Leviticus 14:1 - Meaning and Application

Here, first, the plague of leprosy is treated as a disease that was not always beyond cure. Uzziah’s leprosy continued until his death, and Gehazi’s passed on to his descendants, but Miriam’s lasted only seven days. So we may think that in many cases it faded with time. Though God may contend for a long time, he will not contend forever.

Second, the judgment about healing, like the judgment about the disease, was placed in the priest’s hands. He had to go out of the camp to the leper and see whether the leprosy had healed (Leviticus 14:3). We may suppose the priest did not become ceremonially unclean by coming near the leper, as another person would have done. This duty was merciful to poor lepers, because the priests were specially ordered to attend to them.

The priests’ lips should preserve knowledge, and people in trouble need instruction on how to bear their suffering and how to gain good from it. They need the word along with the rod, so that they may be brought to repentance. It is a kindness when those who are sick have these messengers from the Lord of hosts with them, these interpreters who show them what is right (Job 33:23). When the leper was shut out and could not go to the priests, it was good that the priests could go to him. If anyone is sick, let him send for the elders, the ministers of the church (James 5:14).

If we apply this to the spiritual leprosy of sin, it teaches that when we withdraw from disorderly people so they may feel shame, we must not treat them as enemies, but warn them as brothers (2 Thessalonians 3:15). It also teaches that when God’s grace brings back to repentance those who had been shut out of fellowship because of scandal, they should be received again with tenderness, joy, and sincere love. That is why Paul tells the church, about the excommunicated man in Corinth, to forgive him, comfort him, and confirm their love for him after he showed repentance (2 Corinthians 2:7-8).

Ministers have been given by our Master the authority to declare both forgiveness and exclusion. Both must be done with great care and thought, without favoring one person over another, with earnest prayer for God’s guidance, and with a true concern for the good of Christ’s body. Care must always be taken that sinners are not encouraged by too much leniency, and that repentant people are not discouraged by too much harshness. Wisdom and sincerity are useful guides in this matter.

Third, if the leprosy was found to be healed, the priest had to declare it with special solemnity. The leper, or his friends, were to prepare two birds, clean wild birds caught for this purpose, along with cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, because all of these were used in the ceremony. One bird was to be killed over an earthen vessel filled with spring water, so that the bird’s blood would stain the water. This pictured, as other signs did, the death of Christ, when blood and water came from his pierced side (John 19:34). In this way Christ comes into the soul for healing and cleansing, not by water only, but by water and blood (1 John 5:6).

Then the living bird, with some scarlet wool and a bundle of hyssop, had to be tied to a cedar stick and dipped in the water and blood. After that, the priest was to sprinkle the person being cleansed, and this was done seven times (Leviticus 14:6-7). The cedar wood pointed to the leper’s restored strength and health, since cedar does not easily decay. The scarlet wool pointed to the return of a healthy color, since leprosy made the skin white as snow. The hyssop suggested the removal of the foul smell that often came with leprosy. The cedar, the tallest and stateliest plant, and the hyssop, one of the lowest, were both used in this service, for those of humble rank in the church can be useful in their place, just as those who are more honored can be.

Some take the slain bird to picture Christ dying for our sins, and the living bird to picture Christ rising again for our justification, that is, for our being counted righteous before God. The living bird was dipped in the blood of the slain bird, showing that the power of Christ’s death made his resurrection effective for our justification. He took his blood into the holy place, and there appeared a Lamb as though it had been slain. The cedar, scarlet wool, and hyssop were all dipped in the blood, because the word, the ordinances, and all the Spirit’s work get their power to cleanse us from Christ’s blood. The leper was sprinkled seven times to show complete cleansing, which is why David prayed, “Wash me thoroughly” (Psalm 51:2). Naaman was also told to wash seven times (2 Kings 5:10).

The living bird was then set free in the open field, showing that the cleansed leper was no longer under restraint, but could go where he pleased. Yet because the bird flew toward heaven, this also called him to seek the things above and not use this new life only for earthly things. It pictured the glorious freedom of God’s children, which belongs to those who are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Those whose souls once bowed down to the dust in grief and fear now fly through the open sky, rising upward on wings of faith, hope, holy love, and joy.

After this, the priest had to pronounce him clean. That had to be done with solemnity, so the leper would feel God’s mercy more deeply in his recovery, and so others would be satisfied to associate with him. Christ is our priest, and the Father has given all judgment to him, especially judgment concerning this leprosy. By his final sentence, stubborn sinners will have their eternal place with the unclean, outside the holy city (Job 36:14). All who are cleansed by his grace will be received into the camp of the saints, where nothing unclean will enter.

Those whom Christ declares clean are truly clean, and they do not need to worry about what people say. Yet even though Christ is the goal of this law for righteousness, he was, while living in the flesh, made under the law, which was still in force. So he ordered the lepers he had healed to go and show themselves to the priest and offer what the law required for cleansing (Matthew 8:4; Luke 17:14). The shadow had to remain until the reality came to fulfill it.

When the leper was declared clean, he had to wash his body and clothes and shave off all his hair (Leviticus 14:8). He still had to stay outside the camp for seven days, and on the seventh day he had to wash and shave again (Leviticus 14:9).

After the priest has declared him clean from the disease, he must make himself as clean as possible from every remaining sign of it and from every other impurity. He must also take time to do this.

In the same way, those who have the comfort of having their sins forgiven, through the blood of Christ being applied to their consciences, must carefully cleanse themselves from all sin in body and spirit. They should thoroughly put away their old sins. Everyone who has this hope in him will want to purify himself.