Part X3.1 - Leprosy
CHAPTER XIII.
LEPROSY. IN this chapter there is a further occasion for the use ot the discerning judgment of the priest in marking the difference between clean and unclean, and particulars are given to guide the exercise of that judgment. Consequently, the directions are delivered to Aaron jointly •with Moses. Doubtless the instructions are such as would enable the priest to form a correct opinion in regard to the existence of the natural disease; just as the beasts specified as unclean were probably less wholesome for food than those which were allowed as clean. But we have in either case to deal with the typical and moral meaning. The first instance of uncleanness is that of a woman. The present one begins with the words, "When a man," &c. But a little further on (Leviticus 13:29-38) we read " If a man or woman," &c. For the woman first sinned and was in the transgression, but the man listened to her; and the condition into which they were both brought, that is sin, was transmitted to their children, both male and female. The ordinance of leprosy points to intrinsic sinfulness in man and woman. There is no imparted or imputed uncleanness, as in the case of touching; nor is there uncleanness of circumstances, as in the case of child- bearing. But there is intrinsic impurity to be simply detected, as being in the person, by certain marks which would indicate and prove its presence. On this point the judgment of the priest was to be exercised ; for there was a certain resemblance between the appearance of the deep-seated disease of leprosy, which constituted un- cleanness, and that of a mere external " scab."
Leviticus 13:1-8. In these verses we have the indications by which the priest was to judge of the existence of the disease, and distinguish between what was merely external, though it might present symptoms like those of leprosy, and the actual disease itself. The indications which render it necessary that a person should be brought to the priest are the appearing, in the skin of his flesh, of a "rising, a scab, or a bright spot-any outward sign which would naturally lead to the inference that there was something wrong within. With such a taint a man might not enter into the sanctuary of the Lord, or dwell among His people. There was also the danger of communicating the disorder to others ; or, at any rate, an appearance of uncleanness, which ought not to be in the holy people of God. It was the place of the priest to judge of the true character of the malady. The suspected person must be " brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests."
Leviticus 13:3. " The priest shall look on the plague in the skin of his flesh; and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean." The chief point to be observed is whether the disease lies deeper than the skin, thus proving that it is internal uncleanness manifesting itself there. The hair is the natural covering of man; or rather- as we may, perhaps, infer from its partial growth-an attempt, as it were, of nature to provide a covering after nakedness had been discovered and felt. White is ever in Scripture the emblem of purity. Such, then, is the character of this sure indication of the disease : it gives to that which is the covering and ornament of nature the appeai-ance of purity. Thus the great distinguishing mark of sin is that it is internal, existing within the nature of man, while its course is to hide its loathsomeness, to disguise its true character, under the semblance of purity. But God has marked the true distinction, and the priest, if he follow the directions, will not be mistaken. The symptom is seen upon the skin; but the priest’s eye detects whether it lies deeper, and the white hair, which might deceive the unwise as an appearance of health, is known to him as the sure sign of disease. Man is ever endeavouring to palliate his guilt, and to attribute the proofs of it to the influence of accidental circumstances; but there are sufficient indications that it proceeds from the corrupted source within.
Leviticus 13:4. Yet there might be characteristics in the diseased appearances which would justify the priest in waiting, and suspending his judgment for a while. " If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days." At the close of this time he was to be inspected, and, if the plague had not spread in the skin, was to be shut up for seven days more. And if again, on the second seventh day, the plague was somewhat dark and had not spread, it was but a scab. The man had but to wash his clothes, and would then be clean. In this case the appearance of purity is in the spot itself-not in the hair that grows from it-and it does not seem to be deeper than the skin. But these facts are not sufficient to decide the matter, and the priest shuts up the person for seven days. We have here, as before, the seven days of nature, and there is but one thing which can check the progress of its evil, and that is the power of resurrection. Accordingly, there is a further space of seven days, which constitutes the proof, the power of resurrection manifested.
After this, if the plague be at a stay, there is no internal disease. The appearance has become somewhat dark, there is no longer the false colour of whiteness; the spot is nothing more than it appears to be, a scab. But this description would fully apply only to Him Who was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and yet, alone of those born of women, was found in the proof to be without sin. The double seven days may refer to the period of His own personal trial, and the trial of His mystical body; and in this sense alone can the judgment of " clean " be pronounced on any but Himself. After He had been proved to be sinless, He washed His clothes in resurrection: He put off the likeness of sinful flesh, and stood in His intrinsic purity. But the full proof of cleanness would consist in the scab being at a stay; for, notwithstanding the appearances just mentioned, if, after the man had been seen for his cleansing, the scab continued to " spread much abroad," the priest should pronounce him unclean. There is no resurrection life unless there be some power of it manifested in the subduing of evil.
Thus, then, the loathsomeness of leprosy marks the condition of all men by nature, and the instance here mentioned of actual cleanness, even though there be the appearance of disease, belongs only to the Lord Jesus. The union of any with Him in His sinlessness is not yet the subject of direct allusion. The true character of this leprosy is shown in Aaron’s intercession with Moses on behalf of Miriam (Numb. xii. 11,12); "Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb."
Leviticus 13:9-23. The judgment in these verses is still to decide in regard to the existence of leprosy, though the passage commences by declaring its existence, and thus shows that/ it is our condition by nature. The true judgment of the priest sees the disease in all but One Man. He marks the cleanness or uncleanness in individual cases by the directions given. The former paragraph treated only of doubtful appearances, for which the man was brought to the priest. The present deals with cases of the actual existence of disease, in which the priest is to judge whether the leprosy constitutes uncleanness or not. Then follows the ordinance of cleansing for those in whom the plague is healed. They too, are to be brought to the priest; but, in this instance, the priest must go forth out of the camp, into the place of the leper’s banishment, and he that has been healed, though clean, must go through the process of cleansing before he can be restored.
Leviticus 13:10-11. Self-righteousness, pride, the parade of purity and good intentions, the puffing up of the flesh, are sure signs of the existence of sin uncleansed. This may be decided at first sight: for we have here no doubtful case needing consideration or delay; the true state is perfectly clear and evident (John 9:41).
Leviticus 13:12-13. The consciousness and acknowledgment of sin is a proof that it has been put away. But the priest shall consider. It must be a full and complete acknowledgment, without a single self-righteous plea. The proof of sin then becomes the proof of sin put away. (Compare Isaiah 64:6; John 9:41.)
Leviticus 13:14-15. There must, however, be no puffing up of the flesh remaining; for, if that be seen, it is the evidence of still abiding uncleanness. According to the margin, the symptom is " the quickening of living flesh."
Leviticus 13:16-17. But if that be subdued, and the consciousness of sin be so full as to overcome this " living flesh," the man is clean.
Leviticus 13:18-23. Hezekiah is an instance of one whom the Lord chastened by the means of the boil here mentioned (2 Kings 20:1-21; Isaiah 38:1-22.). But, after he was healed, it was proved by the result of his chastening, that he had a disease far more deeply seated, which required a more powerful and radical cure. Nothing short of death and resurrection was sufficient. And so was it also with Job. The boil may be seen when the deep-seated corruption of leprosy is healed; but the sure signs of distinction are given, and are the same, with little variation, as in the case of the " scab." The appearance of the sore boil does not prove in itself either the presence or the absence of leprosy. There may be some remaining evil of the flesh which the Lord can use in chastening when the leprosy is healed. The boil does mark evil and corruption; but it may be only in the skin, a burning boil.
It may also, however, give rather a different appearance to the signs which are indicative of leprosy ; and hence an additional symptom is here mentioned, viz., that the white rising or bright spot may look " somewhat reddish."
But, with this difference, the sure marks which guide the priest’s judgment will still be the same. And if they be found upon the suspected person, he is to be shut up for seven days, and the ultimate judgment is made to depend upon the staying or spreading of the spot. But the disease of leprosy, as also that of sin, will never get better by being left to itself. Therefore its staying indicates the work of an unseen hand.
There is also, probably, reference made here to Him Who partook of the afflictions and sufferings of our nature, without incurring any of its taint. He continued shut up during His seven days of trial, but the spot spread not; He was clean.
Leviticus 13:24-28. The same directions are to be followed in the case of a " hot burning," both as regards the shutting up, and the final judgment. If it does not spread, it is " an inflammation of the burning," not the leprosy. The boil and the burning may be used by the Lord for chastening judgment, and, though they may have their origin in the man, are not indicative of intrinsic uncleanness. They may be the means of bringing out the inward taint to view, and indeed often are. The bright spot may appear in the " boil," or in " the quick flesh of the burning;" and, if it does, must be judged by the signs previously described.
Leviticus 13:29-37. The next instance is,-" If a man or a woman have a plague upon the head or the beard." The woman, specially mentioned in this and the following case, shows that there is some reference to the Church. In the history of Samson (Judges 16:1-31.), the hair of the head is a sign of strength, and its loss by cutting off indicative of weakness. So also is it apparently in the case of the nation of Israel (Isaiah 7:20). It is a sign of comeliness in Song of Solomon 4:1; Song of Solomon 6:5; and also in 2 Samuel 14:25-26. Plucking off the hair betokens shame and contempt (Isaiah 1:6); and baldness is also a sign of shame (Isaiah 3:24). Cutting off the hair expresses sorrow and humiliation (Jeremiah 7:29). In Numbers 6:1-27 the Nazarite, by allowing his hair to grow, seems to signify the dedication of all his strength and comeliness to the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 11:1-34 the woman’s hair is suffered to grow in sign of subjection; and long tresses are a glory to her, because they are given to her for a covering, and to mark her subjection to the man, even as that of the Church to Christ. For the woman is the glory of the man, as the Church is that of Christ; but the man is the glory and image of God, therefore his head is to be shorn and uncovered. In this case, then, the disease is manifested in that which is man’s strength and comeliness. He was made in the image of God; but in the very characteristics of his divine origin-his power, his intelligence, his beauty, &c.-there the signs of this inwardly rankling disease appear.
Leviticus 13:30. One of the symptoms specified is the appearance of " a thin yellow hair." Yellow is once used (Psalms 68:13) in connection with gold. It seems here to signify the assumption of some appearance of righteousness ; and this, though ever so faint, is a sure sign of disease. The spot is a dry scall; there is not a sufficiency of healthy nourishment proceeding from within to maintain the appearance of comeliness without. On the ground of these appearances the man is to be shut up seven days, and the final judgment is to be decided, as before, by the staying or spreading of the scall, &c. But we have here the double seven days; and during the second week the man was to be shaven, excepting the scall; but only, of course, if after the first week the plague had not spread, was in sight no deeper than the skin, and had not produced yellow hair. The shaving is the taking away of all his strength and comeliness; and if then the scall do not spread, he is clean. But if, after this process, the plague continue to spread, no other sign is needed. The priest shall not trouble to look for the yellow hair; the man is unclean. There has been a seven days perfect trial of nature, and a seven days trial of nature shorn of its comeliness by the knowledge of death; and yet the disease does but increase. But if the scall be in the priest’s sight at a stay, and there be black hair-which is at once the sign of mourning, and a more natural colour-the man is clean; the scall is healed.
Leviticus 13:38-39. Here the symptom is that of a man or a woman having " bright spots " in the skin of their flesh. This is the slightest of the indications which God has given of leprosy. If, however, the spots be darkish white, they are but freckled spots in the skin of the flesh; the person is clean.
Leviticus 13:41. The loss of the appearance of strength and comeliness, whether total or partial, is not in itself a sign of this disease, but rather the contrary.
Leviticus 13:42-44. Yet neither is it in itself a sign of purity ; for if, in either the entire or partial loss of the hair, there be in the place of it " a white reddish sore "-such is its peculiar characteristic in this instance-the man is leprous, " utterly unclean; his plague is in his head." This last symptom is marked as a most sure and special sign of utter uncleanness. It is the case of entire disregard of their evil condition by men under the curse of death, who are thus deprived of all strength and comeliness, and have no connection with the living Head, Who is the resurrection and the life.
Leviticus 13:45-46. " And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent." This sign is used in Scripture to represent sorrow, anger, distress, and humiliation. " His head bare." The priests who had access to God were not to uncover their heads, because they had that access ; this man is not to cover his head.* This was a sign of exposure. No covering could be allowed where the disease existed; the evil must be open and manifest to all. "
He shall put a covering upon his upper lip." This expresses sorrow for loss of blessing, as in the death of friends, &c. See Ezekiel 24:17, where it is connected with eating " the bread of men," partaking in the sorrows of death. In Micah 3:7, it is a mark of sorrow and shame assumed by those who have been discarded of God, and can obtain no answer from Him. " And shall cry, Unclean, unclean." This is a public announcement from himself of his condition, and a warning, lest any clean person should approach him. It shows how unmistakably God has branded the sad condition of man by nature, and it may also intimate that consciousness of uncleanness which is preparatory to cleansing. In the Church the man is not to be covered because Christ Who ia in the presence of God has been manifested. The Jew still covers his head in the presence of God.
Such was to be his condition during all the days of his defilement. His place was to be " without the camp," and there he was to " dwell alone." He is thus cut off as unfit for the companionship of God’s people; he must live alone. Yet his habitation, sad and sorrowful though it be, is blessed; for thither the priest goes out to him. And it is in such solitary places that our great Priest, having come forth, has found one and all of us. God’s tabernacle itself was at first pitched outside the camp (Exodus 33:7). And the Lord Jesus Himself scorned not to come into the same place of exile, into our circumstances. This He Himself shows at the commencement of His ministry (Matthew 8:2-4). Thus even our sad condition by nature is turned into a blessing, because it has brought to light the fulness of God’s grace. In Leviticus 14:1-57, we have in detail that which is so simple in manifest action in Matthew 8:2-4, and indeed in the whole course of the ministry of the Lord Jesus, from His incarnation to His coming in glory. But, before this is fully declared, there must be notice of the uncleanness which cleaves to the garments of the leper; for even thus far has the disease spread.
Leviticus 13:47-59. " The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in," &c. The uncleanness of the person has been already shown. We are no longer concerned with it, but with that which is intimately connected with it, which covers it, and meets the eye of the observer. In other words, the present passage has regard to what a man does, and not directly to what he is. But the outward act is ever tainted by the pollution of that from which it proceeds. The garments are said to be made of wool, of linen, or of *******p.138 - omitted (please supply if you find it) The woollen garments point to acts of service or work among our fellow creatures ; the linen to that which relates more specially to God, to priestly service; while the skin is that which all may appropriate, seeing that it is the covering which God first gave to man. There is an express command that the two former fabrics shall not be mingled together in one garment (Leviticus 19:19). Our failure by nature in all actions shows yet more fully, beyond our personal need of resurrection, how everything must be done in the realising consciousness of receiving all from God, of being united with Christ, and of having power and purity in this way, and in this way only. The proof that the disease exists in a garment is its being " greenish or reddish;" the former colour being the sign of the flourishing condition of trees, the latter that of health and life, the hue of blood. But here both are out of place, and are, therefore, the disgusting evidence of disease. And the taint is found in the warp and woof; it is not merely outward, but it is also intrinsic. The garment thus discoloured is to be shut up for seven days, and if at the end of that time the plague be found to have spread, it is a " fretting leprosy," and the garment must be burnt. If the plague be not spread, the garment must be washed and shut up for seven days more. And this time the test is whether the plague has changed its colour; for if it has not, though it may not have spread, yet the garment is unclean. It may be " bare within or without," but it ought to have changed its colour, and if it has not, it is " fret inward," and must be burnt. But if the plague be " somewhat dark " after the washing, then the part diseased shall be torn out of the garment, and if the plague spread or appear in it *******p.140 - omitted (please supply if you find it)