Recently I saw a post on Facebook quoting from the Book of Leviticus and a passage about leprosy in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We live in such politically charged times and I wanted to leave this topic alone.  However, I found myself fascinated by the original post and the comments that followed it.  How could this passage become so political?  But first, I want to talk about one of my favorite miracles.

Three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, record the healing of a man with leprosy by Jesus.  “When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.  And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’  And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them (Mat 8:1-4).’”  You can also find the miracle in Mark 1:40-44 and Luke 5:12-14.

Now, here is the passage that was quoted from Leviticus on Facebook, “‘The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’  He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp (Lev 13:45-46).’”

While the priestly diagnosis of leprosy and removal of the leper would prevent the infected individual from infecting the rest of the community there is much more going on here.  “Once a man was branded as a ‘leper’, he had to adopt the posture of a mourner by tearing his clothes, allowing his hair to become unkempt, covering his beard or moustache, and crying ‘unclean’. He had to live outside the camp… his existence was nothing more than a living death (Harrison 1980, 148).”  But for the Israelite it was even worse, “…the ‘leper’ would be cut off from spiritual fellowship with the covenant people, and in a real sense would be without hope and without God in the world (Harrison 1980, 148).”

While some scholars debate the comparison or the use of leprosy as a representation of sin it is hard to miss the similarities here between the situation of the leper and the sinner.  In Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, the prodigal son’s father summarized his lost son’s situation, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found (Luke 15:24).”  And Paul describes our situation before salvation as being, “dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… (Eph 2:1-2).”  In this situation, our lostness and deadness in our sins, should we not mourn?  David, in the lament of his own sins, wrote, “wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me (Psalm 51:2-3).”  That need and provision for washing is the second half of the Levitical lesson regarding leprosy.

Jesus has just healed a leper.  Immediately the leper was clean and yet there was still work to be done.  In order for him to be allowed back into the Israelite community he had to perform the sacrifice required to convince the Priests that he could be re-admitted.  The required sacrifice is described in Leviticus 14:1-32.  It is lengthy and involved so I’m only going to discuss a few points.  But just imagine, the priests, Levites, and scribes, all who would later demand a sign from Jesus, would have been fully aware that this leper was cleaned by Jesus and participatory in the very sign that they would later miss.  Their desire to follow the letter of the law would compel them to obey even as it pertains to this leper.  That is what makes it one of my favorite miracles.  How do you demand a “sign” from Jesus even when you have been participatory in the very “sign” that signified His work?

“The ceremony lasted for eight days, and involved elements of the four principal forms of Hebrew sacrifice as well as symbolic procedures reminiscent of the consecration of priests and of the annual day of atonement ceremony (Harrison 1980, 151).”  There is a heavy emphasis on cleansing and at one point all of the leper’s hair, head and body, would be shaved.  His body and clothes had to be completely cleansed (Harrison 1980, 151).  He would then present two living birds (Lev 14:4).  “The bird’s blood, when sprinkled on the individual undergoing the rite, identified him once again with the community, and was therefore symbolic of his restoration to fellowship. In precisely the same manner, the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross reconciles man to God and makes it possible for the sinner to join the household of faith (Harrison 1980, 152).”  Jesus was commanding the leper to act out the very sacrifice Jesus was preparing to offer on behalf of the leper’s real uncleanness and the very priest who would deny Jesus to the cross would participate!  You can’t tell me God doesn’t have a real sense of irony.

“At the end of this part of the ceremony the other living bird was released into the open countryside, presumably so that it could return to its nest. This has been seen as symbolic of the new life which the cured ‘leper’ would now experience, and which would enable him to resume his former existence (Harrison 1980, 152).”  However, he could not return to his home for another week (Harrison 1980, 153).  I can’t help but wonder if that week is representative of our lives in this world after we are saved but before we are called to our real home in His kingdom.

Anyway, there is so much more here in Leviticus that I just don’t have the time or space in this medium to get into.  What I want you, the reader, to know is that these passages in Leviticus, while serving to protect the community from the vile effects of leprosy, bear witness to the uncleanness that pervades not just our community but the community of man from the dawn of time to today.  That is why we find it today in God’s word.  Not because we need to be told to isolate an unhealthy contagion from a healthy community.  Does “modern man” really need these words, recorded in Leviticus and penned by Moses thousands of years ago, to know how to protect our community today?  Is this why we Praise our Lord, because He has shown us how to survive leprosy, and other like diseases, as a community?  No, we rejoice because Jesus has redeemed us from the consequences of our own uncleanness, our own sin!

      7       Truly no man can ransom another,
      or give to God the price of his life,
     8       for the ransom of their life is costly
      and can never suffice,
     9       that he should live on forever
      and never see the pit (Psa 49:7-9).

And yet a loving and merciful God did just that.  He paid the ransom!  He cleansed us from our leprosy.

It is this ransom that assures your eternal life in His presence.  It is that promise of eternal life that allows us to live in a fearful world in a state of fearlessness.  Fearlessness in the face of martyrdom.  It is that hope that allowed the Christian community to fearlessly minister in the midst of the plague knowing full well that if they contracted that disease they too would die.  The same hope that comforts the Afghan Christian in the face of the Taliban.  The hope that to die is gain (Phi 1:21)!  To be afraid from time to time is human to live in fear is to live in disbelief of the hope that is Christ.  How many Christians, that have gone before us today, will stand up and condemn our fear not as that which is natural but that which is unbelief. Fear not!

Lastly, Leviticus is hard.  I don’t and can’t hold it against anyone for missing the Messianic context.  That is between them and God. And, God knows we all have to rely on His Spirit for instruction in His word.  But I do want to conclude by pointing out that even the ancient Israelites knew to isolate the sick from the healthy and this passage seems to support that wisdom.  But that is not what we have done.  In our fear we have isolated the healthy from the healthy and the unhealthy.  I can’t help but wonder if the original “poster’s” intent wasn’t to use Leviticus as justification for isolating the sick from the healthy but rather as justification for isolating those who disagree with the policy in which we isolate the healthy from the healthy and mandate medical protocols on those who dissent.  I’m afraid that casually dismissing the intent of God is to casually dismiss the existence of God.

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Image by Bob Bello from Pixabay

Harrison, R. K. Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 3. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980.