Unclean!

PLUS

Unclean!

Leviticus 13–15

Main Idea: God is interested in every detail of our lives, including our illnesses. Illness exists because sin exists, but God takes away our sin through Jesus, and God gives us an eternal future in heaven where no sickness exists.

I. Sickness Exists Because Sin Exists.

II. Sin Separates Us from God.

III. God Cleanses What We Cannot.

IV. Jesus Transforms Access to God’s Presence.

A. Jesus eliminates ceremonial law.

B. Jesus graduates us from symbol to substance.

C. Jesus incarnates God’s presence.

V. Followers of Jesus Have a Future with No Sickness.

In the last section we addressed eight verses. In this section we will consider the meaning and application of 149 verses. That is unusual, but because of the nature of the content of the chapters it is possible to do. Chapters 13 and 14 address skin diseases, and chapter 15 contains laws concerning bodily discharges. As we have done before, when we approach such laws that are obsolete in the age of the new covenant, we profess our belief in 2 Timothy 3:16—“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable.” In every chapter of Leviticus, including these, we also see the truth of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:17—“Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Jesus does indeed fulfill the Law. Jesus also saves us from sin, heals us, cleanses us, and gives us eternal life in heaven. God gave laws like the ones we see in Leviticus 13–15 to teach us how He related to His people Israel and how He wants to relate to us today.

We should note at the beginning that the purpose of these laws is not medical but ritual. God did not prescribe medical procedures to cure skin diseases. Instead, God decreed that certain kinds of sickness rendered His people ritually unclean. People who were unclean were not allowed to enter worship or to be with God’s people. The people saw exclusion from worship and fellowship as a great hardship, so no one welcomed being sick or unclean. The goals of Leviticus 13–15 are to teach the Israelites how to diagnose conditions that made them ritually unclean and how to return to a state of cleanness so they could return to worship and fellowship.

As for the specific disease addressed in chapters 13 and 14, “skin disease” is the way the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates the Hebrew word. Other translations have “leprous disease” (ESV), “defiling skin disease” (NIV), or “leprosy” (NASB, KJV). The Hebrew word translated into those words was used to refer to a rather wide range of skin diseases—minor and major. “It did not refer to any particular skin disease, such as psoriasis, but covered a number of different diseases and conditions” (Kleinig, Leviticus, 274). Some of the procedures in chapters 13 and 14 were designed to determine whether the disease was minor or major. Leviticus 13 describes seven distinct situations with regard to skin disease. The first situation is a case of “a swelling, scab, or spot on the skin of his body” (v. 2). The affected person showed the condition to the priest. If it met the criteria for uncleanness, the priest declared it unclean. If its appearance was uncertain, the priest would quarantine the person for seven days, examine him again, and then quarantine him for another seven days. At the end of 14 days, if the spot had spread, the priest would declare the person unclean. If it had not spread, the person would wash his clothes and the priest would declare him clean.

The second situation was “when a skin disease develops on a person” (v. 9). The infected person would go to the priest, who would examine the skin. If the skin displayed the symptoms of uncleanness, the priest would declare the person unclean. On the other hand, if white skin grew, the priest declared the person clean, since white skin indicated new, uninfected skin.

The third situation was “when a boil appears on the skin of one’s body” (v. 18). The person with the boil would show it to the priest, and the priest would either declare it unclean or quarantine the individual for seven days. At the end of seven days, if the boil was better the priest would declare the person clean. If it wasn’t better the priest would declare the person unclean. The fourth situation was a “burn on the skin” (v. 24). They dealt with burns the same way they dealt with boils.

The fifth situation was “when a man or woman has an infection on the head or chin” (v. 29). The affected person showed it to the priest, and if it met the criteria for uncleanness the priest declared the person unclean. If the affected area was uncertain, the priest would quarantine the person for seven days, examine it again, wait another seven days, examine again, and then declare the person clean or unclean. The sixth situation had to do with “white spots on the skin” (v. 38). The person with the spots showed them to the priest, and the priest simply declared the person clean or unclean.

The seventh skin condition had to do with loss of hair on the head. Baldness itself did not make anyone unclean. “He is bald, but he is clean” (v. 40). That comes as good news to all of us who are losing our hair. As a bald friend of mine says, “God made some heads perfect, and He put hair on all the others!” I live in a state that has a city with a perfect name for a retirement community exclusively for bald men. The city is named “Morehead City, NC.” The list of “bald jokes” is quite long, and it’s good to know that God declares baldness “clean.” However, if “a reddish-white infection” appeared (v. 42), a priest examined the infected area. If indeed a swollen area was reddish-white, the priest would pronounce the infected person unclean.

Verses 45 and 46 state the consequences of being in a state of uncleanness. Unclean persons wore torn clothes, they let their hair grow out, they lived alone, and when they encountered someone they had to cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” Clearly, being in a state of ritual uncleanness was a difficult existence.

The final verses of chapter 13 (vv. 47-59) have to do with garments that were suspected to be infected. Again, the owner of the clothes took them to the priest, and the process for inspecting clothing was even more extensive than the process for inspecting skin.

When someone recovered from a skin condition, the priest and the infected person observed a special ceremony before a priest pronounced him clean. The first part of chapter 14 has to do with that ceremony of cleansing after a skin infection. After that ceremony the person being cleansed could go into the camp but not into his tent. He stayed outside his tent for seven days, and on the eighth day he brought sacrificial lambs and a grain offering to a priest. The priest offered sacrifices for the unclean person, after which he was declared clean.

The latter part of chapter 14 has to do with houses infected with some sort of growth. That made little sense to people before we understood more about microorganisms, but now we know that a house can make us sick. In Israel, houses, much like people and clothing, could be declared unclean and unfit for habitation. If a homeowner noticed spots, the law said to call the priest to inspect the house. Contemporary pastors who complain about all the vocational “hats” they have to wear should be grateful that the New Testament does not require them to inspect skin, clothes, or houses for infections or mildew. That would surely be an unwelcome addition to any pastoral job description! An old covenant priest, however, examined the spots in a house, and then he shut up the house for seven days. At the end of seven days the priest would order the infected stones removed and new stones placed in the house. If the spots re-appeared, the whole house would be torn down. If the spots did not re-appear, the priest said the house was clean and he observed a special ceremony that declared the house clean.

Chapter 15 is what Ray Stedman called “the most feared chapter in Leviticus” (The Way to Wholeness, 90). I openly confess that I fear it. The reason can be summed up in two words—bodily functions. The media age in which we live has broken almost every taboo. In movies, on the Internet, and on television shows people seem to have no hesitation to talk about such things in detail. However, we regard our spiritual life, including public worship, as holy. We should regard our walk with God as holy, different; but if God did not intend us to read and talk about Leviticus 15 He would not have put it in His law. Psalm 19 says, “The instruction of the Lord is perfect,” and “The precepts of the Lord are right” (vv. 7,8). Therefore, nothing in any section of Scripture is indecent, though in Scripture God often addresses the indecency of human sin. What God says in His Word concerning bodily functions is candid but not vulgar. If the Bible offends us, it is not the Bible that is in error; our fleshly sensitivities are.

Our bodies are part of who we are, and God is interested in everything about us. As a young man I knew almost nothing about little girls. My sister was three-and-a-half years older than me, and our first two children were boys. I had never been around little girls, and as a male I did not really care about all the things little girls care about. I’m a guy, I’m different from them, I did not understand them, and I felt no need to understand them. Then our daughter was born. Suddenly I became highly interested in subjects I never knew anything about—leotards and lace, dolls and hair bows, dresses and everything in pink. I was fascinated with all those things, and overnight I began to love playing with dolls. The reason I became interested in those things is that they are part of my daughter’s life, and I love her. The same could be said about God’s relationship with us. One response to Leviticus 15 should be to marvel at how many aspects of our lives God is interested in. In Leviticus God regulates food, clothing, work, neighbors, family, and health. People who think God is remote, disinterested, or disengaged should read Leviticus. This book has a different message about God. He knows and cares about every detail of every part of our lives. As Jesus put it, “Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted” (Luke 12:7). God cares about the credit card bill we are having trouble paying, the difficult conversation we need to have with a friend or co-worker, the test we are facing this week, and even the little inconveniences of things like the weather and traffic. He cares about those things because they are part of our lives, and He loves us.

During the time in which God spoke the words recorded in Leviticus, the religions of other cultures portrayed their gods as detached from humanity, selfish, annoyed, and sometimes even antagonistic. In that theological environment, the one true God revealed Himself as all-powerful yet also personal, infinite but also in touch with the needs of the people He created. In Leviticus 13–15 we also see some principles at work that are powerful and practical.

Sickness Exists Because Sin Exists

God created a perfect world, with no sickness, no death, and no sin. God also gave a command to Adam and Eve, and He told them that when they disobeyed His command they would die. They disobeyed His command, so sin entered the world and so did death. However, it was not God’s plan for Adam and Eve to die immediately. Spiritually they died immediately as their sin separated them from God. Physically their bodies deteriorated for years until they finally died. In fact, Adam lived to be 930 years old (Gen 5:5). Sin affected his body and he died, but sin’s effects worked slowly. In the early years of the earth, long life spans were typical. From creation to the flood, life spans were in the range of 700 to 900 years. From Noah to Abraham, life spans were 200 to 600 years. During the age of the patriarchs, life spans were 100 to 200 years. After that, life spans were usually no more than 80 to 90 years and progressively grew shorter. Sin was proliferating and having profound effects on the human body. New diseases were introduced; the gene pool was corrupted. The deleterious effects of sin continued during the time when God gave these laws in Leviticus, and they continue with us today. Sin has had profound and undeniable physical effects on the human race. Sickness exists because sin exists.

In our comments on Leviticus 12 we noted that blood in childbirth is a reminder of death. God said to keep death separate from the tabernacle because worship at the tabernacle had to do with life. We also noted that pain in childbirth is a reminder of original sin when God told Eve one of the consequences of her sin would be multiplied pain in childbirth. Leviticus 13 and 14 highlight another consequence of sin—the deterioration of the body through disease. When Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, he called attention to the sinful way they were sharing the Lord’s Supper. He wrote that when Christians participated in the supper “in an unworthy way,” they were “guilty of sin.” Further, Paul wrote that they were bringing God’s judgment on themselves. Then he wrote, “This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 11:27-30). Paul seemed to be making the point that the Christians’ sin led to their sickness and death. When someone is sick it is rarely possible to conclude the sickness is caused by a particular sin. Still, all sickness is caused either by our sin, by someone else’s sin against us, or by the universal presence and effects of sin in the world. Sickness exists because sin exists.

Sin Separates Us from God

According to God’s law, skin diseases made people unclean, and when they were unclean they were not allowed to enter the area of the tabernacle. Sin separated them from the place of worship. That physical reality carried an important spiritual lesson—sin separates us from God. Of course, these chapters in Leviticus state people were declared unclean and excluded because of a skin disease, not because of sin. However, the skin disease was an external reminder of sin and the physical deterioration sin causes.

Why did God choose skin disease as a symbol or reminder of sin and the physical deterioration sin causes? There are many forms of sickness, many diseases. People were not excluded from worship because of a heart attack or a headache. Why did God choose skin disease and a few other disorders as the conditions that would cause His people to be ritually unclean? First, we should remember that these rules come from God, and since He is God, making the rules is His divine prerogative. I do not discourage people from asking questions about the Bible, but as we do so we should be aware that God, since He is God, has the right to issue commands without explanation. We may be unable to understand the reason for every law because God did not supply us with a reason. Perhaps we do not understand the reason or the meaning of some laws because our understanding is finite and God, who gave the laws, is infinite. However, if for some reason we reject God’s law or decide it is incorrect, we are at least being impertinent, if not blasphemous. God had a reason for all the laws He gave, even though those reasons may not be clear to us. So when we encounter things in the Bible that don’t make sense to us, our impulse should be to give God the right to be God. Skin disease symbolized sin and separation from God because that is the symbol God chose.

It does seem, however, that skin disease, especially leprosy, is well-suited to communicate the message of uncleanness. Skin disease is external, visible. God wanted to remind His people of uncleanness and sin, and He chose something they could see so they would remember. Leprosy is progressive; its effects grow worse over time. Sin also is not stagnant. Sin seems insignificant at first, but it is insidious. The Devil and the world deceive us, and we deceive ourselves about how lethal sin is. Both leprosy and sin are progressive. Also, at the time God gave this law, leprosy was incurable. Sin is also an incurable disease as long as we are on this earth. Jesus saves us from sin, but we will never be completely without sin on this side of heaven. Some people are farther down the road of holiness than the rest of us, but none of us have reached the state of sinless perfection. First John 1:8 says, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Almost constantly we need to go to God for forgiveness and cleansing. Both leprosy and sin are incurable. Also, leprosy affects the nervous system so that infected people become progressively desensitized to pain. Most forms of sickness cause suffering by making us hurt; leprosy causes suffering by making its victims incapable of hurting. Sin affects us in the same way. The more we sin, the more we are desensitized to sin and its pain. The first time we do something wrong we feel guilt keenly. Sometimes we are even shocked. However, if we do it again, and again, we become progressively desensitized to the awfulness of sin until we lose the capacity to feel sin’s pain. Both leprosy and sin have a desensitizing effect.

Leprosy was a reminder of sin and its effects on our bodies. God’s law that skin disease made people unclean and they were to be separated from worship was a good reminder that sin separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God.” What does it take to come into the presence of the holy God? Psalm 24 asks and answers that question: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not set his mind on what is false” (v. 3). Skin disease made people unclean, and we have to have clean hands to come into the presence of God. Numerous commentators have pointed out that the skin disease described in Leviticus 13 and 14 is an especially apt representation for sin. As Wiersbe has written, like leprosy, “sin is deeper than the skin . . . sin spreads . . . sin defiles . . . sin isolates . . . sin is fit only for the fire” (Be Holy, 56–60).

God Cleanses What We Cannot

In the laws concerning skin disease God gave the priests no ritual for healing the disease. Healing was in God’s hands. People with a skin disease would get well or get worse, and that was according to the sovereign providence of God. The laws God gave describe what to do if people got well, to re-introduce them into the community and into worship. So these laws are not about physical healing; they’re about ritual cleansing, being prepared to be in the presence of God. God gave a process for His people to follow to move from a state of uncleanness to a state of cleanness. If they followed the process God gave, they could be confident that they were no longer unclean.

The process was gradual; it involved multiple steps. The people saw that being re-introduced into the presence of God in the sanctuary was not automatic or thoughtless. We too have a process to follow when sin has made us unfit to be in God’s presence. It involves confession, repentance, and seeking God’s presence in prayer and worship. All our spiritual progress is gradual. When we put our faith in Jesus, immediately we move from spiritual death to spiritual life, but our sinful flesh is still present. Christians can and do sin, so we still need help in dealing with our sin problem. God gives that help in His forgiveness, His cleansing, and His sanctifying power in us.

What sin did you commit last week? What sin do you struggle with regularly? Think about the sin in your life as you read 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. How do we access God’s forgiveness and cleansing? God gives it in answer to our prayer of confession. Part of our process of cleansing is the prayer of confession.

What prevents us from being healed? We cannot be healed as long as we defend our sin or make excuses instead of confessing. We say, “I can’t stop myself from sinning. That’s just the way I am. That’s the way my family was, and that’s the way my friends are.” We use excuses like that instead of humbling ourselves and confessing. Our pride resists confession, but if we don’t confess we miss God’s cleansing.

Confession is necessary for cleansing, and so is allowing God to speak to us and change us through His Word. In John 17:17 Jesus prayed to God the Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” God uses His Word to sanctify us, to make us holy, and He uses our prayer of confession to cleanse us. Leviticus 13 and 14 say that God’s process for moving His people from uncleanness to cleanness also involved a priest in every step. God uses His people to help us in the process of cleansing from sin, just like He uses His Word and our confession. God uses other means to move us from a state of uncleanness to a state of cleanness, and He uses it all by the power of His Holy Spirit in us. It is a process; we are never finished growing in holiness. Thank God that He enables the process of sanctification by cleansing what we cannot! If some sin is in your life, why not ask God to cleanse you right now? Will you finish reading this section clean before God or unclean because of unconfessed sin? God cleanses what we cannot.

Jesus Transforms Access to God’s Presence

God gave His laws concerning cleanness and uncleanness in the context of His covenant with His people. God has now established the new covenant in Jesus. God’s old covenant prepared for Jesus’ coming and taught us principles that help us understand the person and work of Jesus. God always knew that when the Messiah came and He initiated the new covenant, the old covenant would become obsolete. The New Testament describes the new covenant in Jesus and confirms the obsolescence of the old covenant. Consider three ways Jesus transforms access to God’s presence.

Jesus Eliminates Ceremonial Law

The process described in Leviticus 13–15 is now obsolete. So are all the laws related to old covenant ceremonies. Jesus made that clear when Jewish leaders confronted Him about non-compliance with ceremonial law. The Jewish leaders asked Jesus why His disciples didn’t wash their hands properly. For the Jews, that wasn’t a matter of hygiene; it was a matter of ritual cleanness, or ceremonial law. Jesus responded by saying that the Jewish leaders were wrong to observe their ceremonial tradition while they disobeyed the moral law of the old covenant (Matt 15:1-9). On another occasion, some Jewish leaders accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking ceremonial law by picking some grain and eating it on the Sabbath. Again, Jesus responded by treating ceremonial law as obsolete and stating that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28).

Jesus also encountered lepers. Instead of pronouncing them ceremonially unclean and following the Levitical process, Jesus healed lepers. One time a woman with a flow of blood touched Jesus’ robe. According to ceremonial law, He should have been made unclean by being touched by an unclean person. Instead, Jesus made ceremonial law obsolete as His power flowed to her and she was healed. Jesus eliminates ceremonial law.

Jesus Graduates Us from Symbol to Substance

Colossians 2:16-17 refers to old covenant ceremonial law as “a shadow of what was to come,” and it says, “the substance is the Messiah.” The old covenant ceremonial laws were the shadow, and Jesus is the substance. God uses laws like those in Leviticus 13–15 to teach that there is a difference between uncleanness and cleanness, and He wants His people to be clean. There is a difference between sin and holiness, and He wants His people to be holy. When Jesus came as God in the flesh, He introduced the new covenant in which He did away with the shadow and proved He is the substance. He taught that external things do not make us clean or unclean, sinful or holy, anymore. Instead, what is in our hearts makes us sinful or holy, and only He can change our hearts. The old covenant law shows us our dirtiness in God’s sight, and Jesus came to be the way we become clean—not just clean on the outside, but clean on the inside, and clean forever. He graduates us from symbol to substance.

Paul wrote in Galatians 3:24 that the law is our “tutor” (NASB) or “guardian” (HCSB) to lead us to Christ. In his commentary on Galatians, Martin Luther cited the proverb that hunger is the best cook. Then Luther wrote that the law makes us hungry, and Jesus satisfies our hunger. Luther also wrote that dry ground longs for rain.

So the law makes troubled and afflicted souls thirst after Christ. To such people, Christ tastes wonderful; to them, he is nothing but joy, consolation, and life. And then Christ and his benefits begin to be recognized. Christ requires thirsty souls, whom he lovingly calls; he delights to water such dry ground. . . . He comforts those who are bruised and afflicted by the law. (Galatians, 178)

Jesus Incarnates God’s Presence

In these chapters in Leviticus the tabernacle symbolized the presence of God. The Bible teaches us that God is everywhere all the time because He is God, but God especially associated His presence with the tabernacle. God said that He would meet with His people at the tabernacle
(Exod 29:42-43). The laws concerning uncleanness and cleanness taught the people of Israel to come in a state of cleanness into His presence at the tabernacle. John 1:14 says Jesus “became flesh and took up residence among us,” and the word translated “took up residence” means to pitch a tent. Some scholars have suggested that “he tabernacled among us” is an apt translation (Michaelis, “skenoo,” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:385–86). The tabernacle was a big tent where people went to meet with God, but now God Himself has come in the flesh in Jesus. God has pitched His tent among us in Jesus, and if we want to know God and meet with God, we go to Jesus. He incarnates God’s presence.

Followers of Jesus Have a Future with No Sickness

Leviticus 13–15 is about physical infirmities, but the Bible says that one day followers of Jesus will no longer suffer from physical infirmities. Our earthly bodies are deteriorating. When we’re children and teenagers our bodies grow bigger and stronger until we’re fully grown. But not long after our bodies are mature, the aging process begins. The aging process is, like leprosy, a process of gradual deterioration. When we age we face all sorts of physical challenges as our bodies grow weaker. As a friend said, “Old age is not for sissies.”

That sounds pretty glum, but it’s true. Paul wrote, “Our outer person is being destroyed” (2 Cor 4:16). However, he also wrote about our future. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul wrote, “We will all be changed. For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality” (vv. 52-53). In eternity, when we have immortal bodies, what will life be like? Revelation 21 gives a glimpse of what heaven is like.

God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. (vv. 3-4)

Skin disease will pass away. Uncleanness will pass away. Death will pass away. Sin will pass away. Life without infirmity is in store for every person who knows Jesus as Savior—no more pain, no more crying, no more death or mourning. God will wipe away every tear. How do we get to that life in heaven? Jesus said He is the way to heaven. Do you have a hurt in your life right now? Maybe you have been shedding tears or struggling with sickness or pain. God has in store for you an eternity without pain. Our bodies will be eternally well, and our hearts will be unspeakably joyful. In the meantime, God teaches us in passages like Leviticus 13–15 to keep ourselves clean and holy until we are in His holy and loving presence forever.

Reflect and Discuss

  1. What are the goals of Leviticus 13–15?
  2. How does Leviticus deny the false idea that God is remote, disinterested, or disengaged?
  3. Why does sickness exist?
  4. Why is skin disease, especially leprosy, well-suited to communicate the message of uncleanness because of sin?
  5. What should we do when sin has made us unfit to be in God’s presence?
  6. With what sins are you struggling? Think about the sin in your life as you read 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
  7. How did Jesus make it clear that the ceremonial law is obsolete?
  8. How does reading the law make you thirst for Christ?
  9. What will heaven be like according to Revelation 21?
  10. As we wait and long for eternity, what does God’s Word teach us to do in the meantime?