Leviticus 14: 1- 57
Hope
14 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. 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. 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.” 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.”
It might seem a bit unusual to you that in composing this study on chapter 14 I thought about the movie The Shawshank Redemption.
One of the principal characters Andy Dufresne is sent to Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and her secret lover. Since the state of Maine has no death penalty, he is given two consecutive life sentences.
If your church does not have a prison ministry, I strongly urge you to begin one. Many like the character Andy and other inmates lose all ‘hope’. Like a person with leprosy that become the living dead.
As most prisoners are Andy is very isolated and lonely at first, but realizes there is something deep inside your body that people can't touch or get to....'HOPE'. Andy becomes friends with prison 'fixer' Red, and Andy epitomizes why it is crucial to have dreams. His spirit and determination lead us into a world full of imagination, one filled with courage and desire.
Based on his finance background Andy is able to change the prison hardships. In a way he begins to unite both guards and prisoners alike.
Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) hears about how Andy helped the prison guards and uses a surprise cell inspection to size Andy up. The warden meets with Andy and sends him to work with aging inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore) in the prison library, where he sets up a make-shift desk to provide services to other guards (and the warden himself) with income tax returns and other financial advice. Andy sees an opportunity to expand the prison library; he starts by asking the Maine state senate for funds. He writes letters every week. His financial support practice is so appreciated that even guards from other prisons, when they visit for inter-prison baseball matches, seek Andy's financial advice. Andy prepares Norton's tax returns the next season.
Not long afterward, Brooks, the old librarian, threatens to kill another prisoner, Heywood, in order to avoid being paroled. Andy is able to talk him down and Brooks is paroled. He goes to a halfway house but finds it impossible to adjust to life outside the prison. He eventually commits suicide. When his friends suggest that he was crazy for doing so, Red tells them that Brooks had obviously become "institutionalized," essentially conditioned to be a prisoner for the rest of his life and unable to adapt to the outside world. Red remarks: "These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them."
Warden Norton profits on Andy's knowledge of accounting and devises a scheme whereby he puts prison inmates to work in public projects which he wins by outbidding other contractors (prisoners are cheap labor). Occasionally, he lets others get some contracts if they bribe him. Andy launders money for the warden by setting up many accounts in different banks, along with several investments, using a fake identity: "Randall Stephens." He shares the details only with his friend, Red, noting that he had to "go to prison to learn how to be a criminal."
In 1965, a young prisoner named Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows) comes to Shawshank to serve time for armed robbery. Tommy is easy going, charismatic, and popular among the other inmates, including Andy and Red. Andy suggests that Tommy take up another line of work besides theft. The suggestion really gets to Tommy and he works on earning his high school equivalency diploma (GED). Though Tommy is a good student, he is still frustrated when he takes the exam itself, crumpling it up and tossing it in the trash. Andy retrieves it and sends it in.
One day a few months later, Red tells Tommy about Andy's case. Tommy is visibly upset at hearing Andy's story and tells Andy and Red that he had a cellmate in another prison a few years ago who boasted about killing a man who was a pro golfer at the country club he worked at, along with his lover. The woman's husband, a banker, had gone to prison for those murders. With this new information, Andy, full of hope, meets with the warden, expecting North to help him get another trial with Tommy as a witness. The reaction from Norton is completely contrary to what Andy hoped for. When Andy says emphatically that he would never reveal the money laundering schemes he set up for Norton over the years, the warden becomes furious and orders him to solitary for a month. The warden later meets with Tommy alone and asks him if he'll testify on Andy's behalf. Tommy enthusiastically agrees and the warden has him shot dead by the wardens evil guard in crime.
When the warden visits Andy in solitary, he tells him that Tommy was killed while attempting escape. Andy tells Norton that the financial schemes will stop. The warden counters, saying the library will be destroyed and all its materials burned. Andy will also lose his private cell and be sent to the block with the most hardened criminals. The warden gives Andy another month in solitary.
Afterwards, Andy returns to the usual daily life at Shawshank, a seemingly broken man. One day he talks to Red, about how although he didn't kill his wife, his personality drove her away, which led to her infidelity and death. He says if he's ever freed or escapes, he'd like to go to Zihuatanejo (Say want ten nay o), a beach town on the Pacific coast of Mexico. He also tells Red how he got engaged. He and his future wife went up to a farm in Buxton, Maine, to a large oak tree at the end of a stone wall where he proposed to her. He tells Red that, if he should ever be paroled, he should look for that field, and that oak tree. There, under a large black volcanic rock that would look out of place, Andy has buried a box that he wants Red to have. Andy refuses to reveal what might be in that box.
Later, Andy asks for a length of rope, leading Red and his buddies to suspect he will commit suicide. At the end of the day, Norton asks Andy to shine his shoes for him and put his suit in for dry-cleaning before retiring for the night.
The following morning, Andy is not accounted for as usual in his cell. At the same time, Norton becomes alarmed when he finds Andy's shoes in his shoe box instead of his own. He rushes to Andy's cell and demands an explanation. Hadley brings in Red, but Red insists he knows nothing of Andy's plans. Becoming increasing hostile and paranoid, Norton starts throwing Andy's sculpted rocks around the cell. When he throws one at Andy's poster of Raquel Welch (in the spot previously occupied by Marilyn Monroe, and before that by Rita Hayworth), the rock punches through and into the wall. Norton tears the poster away from the wall and finds a tunnel just wide enough for a man to crawl through.
Red narrates that during the previous night's thunderstorm, Andy wore Norton's shoes to his cell, catching a lucky break when no one notices. He packed some papers and Norton's clothes into a plastic bag, tied it to himself with the rope he'd asked for, and escaped through his hole. The tunnel he'd excavated led him to a space between two walls of the prison where he found a sewer main line. Using a rock, he hit the sewer line in time with the lightning strikes and eventually burst it. Crawling through 500 yards in the pipe and through the raw sewage contained in it, Andy emerged in a brook outside the walls. A search team later found his uniform and his rock hammer, which had been worn nearly to nothing.
That morning, around the same time that Norton discovered Andy's escape, Andy walks into the Maine National Bank in nearby Portland, where he had put Warden Norton's money. Using his assumed identity as Randall Stephens, and with all the necessary documentation, he closes the account and walks out with a cashier's check. Before he leaves, he asks them to drop a package in the mail. He continues his visitations to nearly a dozen other local banks, ending up with some $370,000. The package contains Warden Norton's account books, which are delivered straight to the Portland Daily Bugle newspaper.
Not long after, the police storm Shawshank Prison with arrest warrants. Hadley is arrested for the murder of Tommy Williams and other inmates; Red narrates that Hadley the cruel guard who killed Tommy was taken away "crying like a little girl." Warden Norton finally opens his safe, which he hadn't touched since Andy escaped, and instead of his books, he finds the Bible he had given Andy. Norton opens it to the book of Exodus and finds that the pages have been cut out in the shape of Andy's rock hammer. Norton walks back to his desk as the police pound on his door, takes out a small revolver and shoots himself under the chin. Red remarks that he wondered if the warden thought, right before pulling the trigger, how "Andy could ever have gotten the best of him."
Shortly after, Red receives a postcard from Fort Hancock, Texas, with nothing written on it. Red takes it as a sign that Andy made it into Mexico to freedom. Red and his buddies kill time talking about Andy's exploits (with a lot of embellishments), but Red just misses his friend.
At Red's next parole hearing one year later in 1967, he talks to the parole board about how "rehabilitated" was a made-up word, and how he regretted his actions of the past of murder over 40 years ago and no longer expects anything from them. His parole is granted this time. He goes to work at a grocery store, and stays at the same halfway house room Brooks had stayed in. He frequently walks by a pawn shop which has several guns and compasses in the window. At times he contemplates trying to get back into prison feeling that he has no life outside of prison where he has spent most of his adult life, but he remembers the promise he made to Andy.
One day, with a compass he bought from the pawn shop, he follows Andy's instructions, hitchhiking to Buxton and arriving at the stone wall Andy described. Just as Andy said, there was a large black stone. Under it was a small box containing a large sum of cash and a letter which to me sums up the whole message of the movie and what chapter 14 is highlighting – Hope.
Andy tells Red that since Red is reading the letter then he must have gotten out of the prison. Even though he most likely in on parole perhaps he is willing to come a little further. He said he needed somebody "who could get things" for a "project" of his in rebuilding an old boat and going into the contract fishing business. I could use a good man to help me get my project on wheels. I'll keep an eye out for you and the chessboard ready. Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well. Your friend. Andy.
Another day or two later, Red violates parole and leaves the halfway house, unconcerned since no one is likely to do an extensive manhunt for "an old crook like him." He takes a bus to Fort Hancock, where he crosses the border into Mexico.
Red’s thought to himself is, ‘I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.
In the final scene, the two friends are finally reunited on the beach of Zihuatanejo on the Pacific coast. Yes, my friends hope is something we all need. We can understand the hopeless life of someone who fall victim to a horrible disease. They lost all hope. Yet, we can learn that our Merciful and Gracious Good God put this message of ‘hope’ in His Word. For even though things looked like they would never change in this lifetime our Holy Loving Master lists the possibility of these types of diseases would be healed and what steps a person would need to take to be re-established back in the fold of God.
Chapter 13 left the skin diseased people in total despair. The unclean persons who had the suspicious skin disease were cast out of the camp with seemingly no future hope ahead. And as they symbolized Israel in its sinful condition it might also have been seen as indicating that there was no hope for Israel. But things could not be allowed to go on like that. It was true that Adam and Eve were similarly cast out of the Garden, but that was not the end. We soon find Abel offering tribute to Yahweh, a tribute which is graciously accepted and responded to (Genesis 4.4). And then in Genesis 4.26 we are told that men began to call on the name of Yahweh. It is clear that God had not turned away from man and that there was in this some kind of reconciliation, as there had been with the coats of skins for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3.21). There was a new beginning.
So here also in chapter 14 therefore we have an indication of the possibility of restoration and full cleansing, purification and atonement, although only for the minority. Being cast out was not necessarily the end. For many there could be restoration, there could be a return to the favor of God. There could be a new beginning. There was hope.
But that would all depend on the suspicious skin disease being healed. This would in fact probably seem to happen many times in different individuals because of wrong diagnosis, or because the skin disease was of such a type that healing took place naturally. But that would not be how it would be seen. It would be seen as the unclean becoming clean again, the smitten being restored to God’s favor. They knew that God could choose to wound, and He could choose to heal (Deuteronomy 32.39), and many would have cried for healing both for themselves and for their loved ones, (compare Psalm 41.4; 103.3-4), and now they saw their beloved one healed, and they would rejoice in God’s goodness and deliverance.
14 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.
The first point here is the expectancy that some would recover from their suspicious skin disease. In the mercy of God it was not necessarily to be seen as the end. And then the person could send a message to the priest claiming healing. He would have been living alone outside the camp, probably provided with assistance by friends and relatives, who would, however, beware of coming too close. But now they could be messengers of the joyous news. He was healed. His skin disease had subsided.
They would hasten to the priests who would send one of their representative’s out of the camp to check out the true situation. The priest would approach the hopefully no longer diseased man and would examine him in accordance with the criteria laid down in the previous chapter, and if he was satisfied that the man was truly healed he would command the correct procedures to begin. ‘Then shall the priest command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.’ This is the first stage in the process.
The killing was a type of sacrifice, almost certainly for atonement and purification, a preliminary type of purification for sin offering. It stresses that the man’s healing and cleansing and re-acceptance can only take place through the shedding of blood. It is not complete for it is not offered on the altar (which it could not be, for until this was done the man could not enter the camp). But it was the first stage before he could enter into the camp. He could not enter the camp without some purification through the shedding of blood.
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.
The hyssop was a plant that absorbed liquid and would be the main agent in the sprinkling. The cedar wood probably signified long and permanent life ahead, for the cedar was famed for its long life. It may also signify that he was ‘standing tall’, with his life now having again become valuable and useful. The scarlet was a reminder of the bloodshed so that all could see that it was sprinkling blood. The living bird signified a new release, and the total removal of all the man’s past uncleanness away from the camp. It would thus seem to signify that the healed man’s sins which had been responsible for his disease, along with his disease, were now seen as dispatched into ‘the open country’ so that he would no more be troubled with his disease. Now he could enter the camp, but he was still a long way from being able to come into the presence of Yahweh and become fully acceptable to Him.
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.
The man was then to remove all the earthiness and defilement of living outside the camp. He had to wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and thoroughly wash himself, before he could enter the camp. But even then he could not go to his own tent. He was not yet purified. He was still, as it were, ‘on probation’. It removed from him all outward uncleanness including that from contact with other skin diseased people. The benefits hygienically are quite clear, but to the priests and the Israelites it was only his first step towards being ‘cleansed’. He was not yet ‘clean’. It may be that this symbolized his first step in being reborn into Israel. Then he had to wait there for 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.
Then on the seventh day, after a divinely complete period in which he would no doubt be meditating on Yahweh’s deliverance, and rejoicing in the fact that he was once more in the holy camp of Israel, he had to shave all the hair of his head, and shave his beard and his eyebrows, all his hair. This was presumably so that it would be quite clear that no trace of disease remained. It may also have been because hair might have been seen as able to pass on uncleanness like the hyssop could pass on the blood. It was certainly hygienically sensible. Then he had to wash his clothes with water and wash himself, after which he would be ‘clean’, ready for the cleansing process. Clean here probably means again declared clean from his skin disease after examination for he has yet to be cleansed before Yahweh (verse 11). Note again that his bathing is only a part of the process, and not the most important part. It is part of a total removal of dirt and earthiness and uncleanness.
We can compare how the new born babe has to wait seven days, before on the eighth day being circumcised (12.2-3). This man was also being reborn. He would be, as it were, ‘born again’ on the eighth day.
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.
The greatness of his deliverance is expressed by the fact that he must bring all four offerings, a guilt offering, a purification for sin offering, a whole burnt offering and a grain offering, together with oil for anointing. These are made up of two he-lambs and a ewe lamb, all ‘perfect’ or without blemish, grain and oil. The grain offering is to be mingled with oil as usual, which suggests that it was to be offered along with the whole burnt offering. The young age of the sacrifices stresses the new beginning.
Thus he requires the removal of specific guilt for any particular sin of which he may have been guilty, the purification for sin which will bring overall forgiveness and atonement, a rededication of himself in praise and thanksgiving and tribute to Yahweh, again accompanied by the making of atonement, and the offering of praise and gratitude for the fact that he would now once again receive God’s blessing in the receiving from God of grain and oil. He was again a whole man.
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.
The priest who is performing the cleansing will then set the man and all his offerings ‘before Yahweh’ at the door of the tent of meeting, that is, they will be brought into the tabernacle court where the altar of burnt offering is. This was only made possible because of the offering of the birds eight days before.
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.
He then offers one of the he-lambs (young rams) as a guilt offering. This demonstrates quite clearly that in the mind of all and in the eyes of God his disease is linked with guilt for some particular sin, without necessarily defining it too closely. It may also be that he is admitting to the fact that while he has been cast out he has not been able to bring to Yahweh His dues. At the same time the ‘log’ (almost a pint, a little more than a liter) of oil is waved before Yahweh along with the flesh of the guilt offering. They are Yahweh’s.
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.
We may probably presume that the blood is first applied to the side of the altar of burnt offering, and thrown at its base to make atonement (5.9). It is involved in the purification of a sinner. The blood of the guilt offering is then put on his extremities, the tip of his right ear, his right thumb and his right big toe. By this the whole of the newly received man is made once more fit to serve Yahweh, to hear His voice, to do His will and to walk in His ways. It is a new beginning.
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.
A similar pattern is followed with the oil. It is poured by the priest into his left hand and then he dips his right finger in the oil and sprinkles it seven times before Yahweh. This is a presentation of the oil in a divinely perfect way for Yahweh to authenticate it for its use. It is directly connecting Yahweh with what is to follow.
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.
Then the rest of the oil is used to be put on the tip of the right ear, the right thumb and the right big toe which had previously had the blood of the guilt offering applied to them. Having been forgiven with regard to all his activities he is now set apart for Yahweh, the ear for hearing God’s will, the hand for doing God’s will and the toe for walking in God’s way. Anointing above all signifies being set apart to God. There are similarities between this ceremony and those of the setting apart to God of the High Priest and the priests (chapter 8).
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.
Then what remains of the oil is poured on his head. He is now completely set apart in the whole of his being, from head to toe, even to his furthest extremity. After this the priest sets about making atonement for him.
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.
For after this the purification for sin offering is offered, in order to make atonement for the one who is to be cleansed, ‘because of his uncleanness’. He is being purified from sin. This is then followed by the whole 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.
The whole burnt offering and the grain offering are then also offered to make atonement. The whole is needed in order that the man might not only be cleansed and purified, but also atoned for completely. He is now back in full fellowship with God as one of His people, with his past wholly behind him, ransomed, healed, restored, and forgiven. He is at one with God and with God’s people.
This whole vivid picture is a glorious illustration of the salvation of a sinner. It commences with his state as one who is sinful and defiled, diseased and disfigured by sin. One who is unclean and cast out. It illustrates that he can only come to God through the blood of Christ, and the all sufficiency of that blood, for Christ is slain bird, guilt offering, and purification for sin offering and whole burnt offering all in one. Until that is applied he is not ‘clean’. The hyssop symbolizes the fact that His blood must be applied to us by His hand, as we come for cleansing. The shaving and the washing symbolizes that the whole of the old life must be put aside and replaced by ‘ceasing to do evil, learning to do well’ (Isaiah 1.16). The oil symbolizes our being totally set apart to Him. The grain offering stresses that for those who become His life begins again, that they may once again rejoice in the grain and the oil. It also symbolizes the fact that we who become His priests may partake of Him, as the priests partake of the guilt offering, the sin offering and the grain offering. The live bird stresses that our sins are carried away never to return. It may also be seen as a symbol of the everlasting life that we receive, as one side of the bird partnership dies and the other is released alive, signifying life and freedom through death. So do we see what our Savior has accomplished for us when we were so unworthy.
There are other parallels also that we can see here. The priest went to the diseased person outside the camp. So did Jesus offer Himself for us outside the camp (Hebrews 13.10-13), that we may enter the true camp of believers. The second parallel is that the whole of the cleansing and redeeming work was done by the priest. In the same way we recognize that in our sinfulness we can do nothing for ourselves, He must do all. Salvation is the work of Christ from start to finish.
But many a skin diseased cast-off would find it difficult to provide three animals for sacrifice together with the accompanying grain and oil, and for them God has provided a substitute offering which he may better be able to afford.
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.
If the person to be cleansed is poor then instead of two he-lambs and a ewe lamb he may offer one he-lamb and two turtle doves or two young pigeons. We note in this the centrality of the guilt offering. There can be no change there. The he-lamb for a guilt offering must be offered under any circumstance. The guilt of the sin that lay behind his condition must be dealt with at all costs, and it is a heavy guilt for there, in his case, even in his poverty, there can be no reduction in cost. But the purification for sin offering and the whole burnt offering may be reduced to two clean birds, as with the normal whole burnt offering.
We are reminded by this that there was no alternative to the offering of the Lamb Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1.29), to the offering of the suffering Servant Who was led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53.7). Significantly the latter was also a ‘plagued, afflicted and rejected person’, a guilt offering (Isaiah 53.8). For Isaiah 53.8 literally ends with ‘for the transgression of My people He was plagued’.
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.
Exactly the same procedure is followed with the guilt offering as was described in verses 10-18, only slightly abbreviated.
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.
But for the purification for sin offering and the whole burnt offering he can use ‘such as he is able to get’ which he offers with a grain offering in the form of two clean, sacrificial birds.
32 This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the usual cleansing.”
And this particular aspect of the Law is for the one who is unable to get the full provision as previously laid down. It is equally a law in parallel with the others.
Dealing with plagued garments was included after the descriptions with regard to discerning of the clean and the unclean with regard to skin diseases in 13.1-46, now dealing with plagued houses is dealt with after the descriptions of the restoration of the unclean that were healed of a skin disease. In the camp He plagued their clothes; in the land He would plague their houses.
Now we see in the second that if a whole house is diseased once they have come into the land, the whole must be destroyed. But on the other hand that in some cases, with drastic treatment, it might be restored. It would depend on the severity of the plague. It thus follows that if the whole of a man’s house is involved in evil, using the term in both senses of the word ‘house’, hope has gone, unless full restoration and rebuilding takes place.
In view of the early Genesis theme that runs through these laws on uncleanness we are probably to see in this house that was discovered to be unclean, a reminder of Cain who ‘built a city’ (4.17). Cities always tended to be seen as ‘unclean’, they were ever illustrative of rebellion against God, and the great cities were regularly used as examples of those totally depraved. If so this passage carries the message that even the plagued city can be made clean by a rooting out of uncleanness and a rebuilding under God.
But in this example there is an even deeper point. In all the previous descriptions there has been no suggestion that it was Yahweh Who had made the person or clothing diseased. But here God specifically says, ‘If I put the plague of mould in a house.’ There is here thus an indication that in the end this, and all plague, comes from God. It is He Who forms the light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates catastrophe (Isaiah 45.7) which is then followed by the assurance of abundant salvation resulting in righteousness (Isaiah 45.8).
Thus there is here the delicately stated reminder that behind all that happens is God. The writer had not wanted to say that every skin-diseased person had been made so by God, as though they were worse than all others, but he does want us to recognize that in fact, that, along with all else, is in the last analysis from God. Nothing can happen without it being drawn in as part of His plan, and it all happens on the basis of the principles which God has established for the running of the world. He does not shy from bringing God into the equation.
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,
This message too comes to both Moses and Aaron, and is specifically from Yahweh. Firstly it contains the assurance that they will come into the land of Canaan which He will give them for a possession. This is so certain that He is already declaring what will be in that day. But it then contains the warning that when they do so come into possession of the land He will be watching over them in order to plague their houses if they are unfaithful to Him, as previously their clothes had been allowed to be plagued. Like the camp the land will be holy to God. But that means that all seen as deserving of the plague will have to be cast out.
I thing we need to think about is this, God is not said to have plagued the clothing, but is said to have plagued the houses. Was this because God was seen as having provided the clothing for man, but man (like Cain) as having provided the houses? Because clothing was seen as ‘natural’ for man, but housing was not? That housing was rather seen as being in danger of being the beginnings of man’s rebellion as he gathered into cities.
14.34 “When you are come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of mould in a house of the land of your possession,”
In a way this is an astonishing statement. In the land to be given to them by God as a possession there will be plagued houses! And when this happens they are to recognize that He has done it. It is He who will have put the plague of mould into their houses. The message is that if they misuse what God gives them to possess, it will be taken away from them. Again it is not so much a case of individual sin, but of the sin of the whole (there is no suggestion of purification for sin and guilt offerings on the altar of burnt offerings). Each plagued house will be a reminder of the sin of the whole of Israel, and of what could happen to all.
As a medical doctor I have come upon this fact. If a family comes to me and almost everyone has some different type of ailment going on, I look to the bible and think of this chapter. Perhaps black mold has infiltrated this house and is making everyone sick. In most cases people put up paneling on the inside of their rooms. My suggesting is to check behind the paneling.
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,’
Once a ‘plague’ is spotted in a house, whether it be mould, mildew or rot, or whatever, the owner must go to the priest, for if the house is ‘unclean’ it affects the holiness of all. It is thus a bounden duty. There will be a temptation not to do so. A house was then, as now, a valued property. It could even be all that they had, and they would not be sure of the outcome.
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.
The priest’s first step is to command them to empty the house, for anything that is in the house once it is declared unclean, will itself be unclean. The assumption is that the plague will not really yet has taken hold. It is a merciful provision. They may lose the house, but at least not their treasured possessions.
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.
The priest will then examine the house. This may well involve the scraping off of some of the plaster to see how deep the plague has gone, which again makes us realize why the possessions in the house needed to be removed lest they be defiled. Scraped plaster goes everywhere. The plague that is to be condemned is one that produces greenish or reddish hollow streaks and has penetrated below the surface (is ‘lower than the wall’). We do not know what exactly this was, but it was clearly something very unpleasant and no doubt with equally unpleasant effects. If the priest found it he would lock or seal the door and the house would be shut up for 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.
After seven days the priest will come to check the house again. If the plague has spread on the stones, all the affected stones are to be removed, and put in an unclean place outside the city, probably in this case a recognized rubbish dump.
We too need to examine our lives carefully, and must learn to be equally drastic with the sins that beguile us.
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.
Then he will cause all the mortar on the walls inside the house to be scraped off, and that too will be taken to the 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.
After which the stones that have been taken out will be replaced with other stones, and the house will be plastered. The hope is that the plague has been got rid of by the drastic action taken.
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.
But if the plague comes again after this thorough treatment it is clearly a spreading plague, and the house is therefore ‘unclean’. It is unsuited to the holiness of God or of Israel. The whole of the house from top to bottom is to be pulled down, broken up and carried to the tip outside the city in an unclean place.
46 Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be unclean until evening.
Moreover anyone who goes into the house while it is shut up will also be unclean, but only until the evening. The aim is to stop people going into it, lest in some way they are affected by the uncleanness of the house and carry it with them.
47 And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
And anyone who lies in the house or eats there is not only made unclean until the evening because they have entered the house, but must also wash their clothes. They have been affected by uncleanness, and must rid even their clothing of it. It would also be hygienically wise, but they did not know this.
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.
But if the priest discovers on examination that his work has been successful, and that the plague has not spread after the plastering of the house, he will declare the house clean. It will mean that 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.
We note that for the house the ritual is only the initial part of that for the cleansing of a man or woman. There are no offerings made in the sanctuary in this case. There is no question here of guilt, or direct human sin. Nevertheless atonement has to be made demonstrating that as ever sin is lurking in the background.
The same procedure as before is carried through only this time it is the house that is sprinkled. It would seem probable that this was an ancient rite of purification. Today some people take this verse and want one of us to come over and bless their home.
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.
The combination of all parts of the ritual, each part being important, will successfully cleanse the house. It is now acceptable again for use by God’s holy nation without defiling them.
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.
Here the letting go of the living bird is again an essential part of the atoning work. The bird carries away all taint of uncleanness. Thus do we see the ritual for the house as very similar for that to the healed man? This would seem to stress the connection of this plagued house with sin. The plagued man and the plagued house are seen as especially tainted by sin to such an extent that this unusual treatment is required, almost parallel to that on the Day of Atonement.
We may note in this regard that a family was always described in terms of their ‘house’. Thus it would be simple for the Israelite to make transference of thought. They could therefore see in these descriptions a hidden message that more than the stonework was in mind. They must watch their houses well, in both senses, or God would visit them with the plague.
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.”
Amen!
