Leviticus 14:1

The Bible says in Leviticus 14:1-6, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[2] This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:[3] And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;[4] Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and 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, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:” It is interesting to notice what happens to the two birds. One is killed and the other is set free. But before it is set free the blood from the other one is applied to it. Jesus is the one who was killed, and we are the ones who are set free. When we believe, the blood of Jesus is applied to us. We are free from our sins. We are free from guilt. We are free from hell. We are free from the law. We are free to do whatever Jesus wants us to do because our prayer is, “Not my will, but thine be done.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 14:7-9, “And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.[8] And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.[9] But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.”

Notice how well the Israelites were told to take care of their skin. The shaving off of all hair and the washing had obvious medical benefits. Because they were not advanced in medical science, God could not explain to them the medical benefits, but God could tell them what needed to be done. There is a spiritual significance to the washing with water. Water is a cleansing agent. Leprosy symbolized sin, and washing symbolized forgiveness. Washing with water does not cleanse from sin. Water baptism does not cleanse from sin either. Jesus cleanses from sin. It is a spiritual experience to turn to Jesus and be cleansed from sin. Water cannot give repentance, salvation, and forgiveness. Water merely symbolizes the cleansing that Jesus already gave.

The Bible says in Leviticus 14:10-18, “And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil.[11] And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:[12] And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD:[13] And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:[14] And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great 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] And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD:[17] And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering:[18] And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD.” One of the things to notice about these verses is the use of oil. Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Once you are saved through faith in Christ, you need to have every part of your existence guided by the Holy Spirit. That is how Jesus lived. The oil was placed upon the ear, the hand, and the foot. The ear symbolizes what we hear. The Holy Spirit wants to teach us, but He teaches us through the Word of God. The Christian must be in the Bible in order for the words of God to enter the mind and bless the soul and increase faith, hope, and love. Go to church to hear the Bible preached. Read the Bible. Memorize Bible verses. Use your ears properly by allowing the Holy Spirit to use them.

Oil was placed upon the hand and the finger. This symbolizes what we do. The Holy Spirit wants us to be involved in good works. Evaluate your deeds and your habits. Are they the things that are pleasing to God? The Holy Spirit uses us when we do what is right. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” It also says in First Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Oil was also applied to the toe and thus to the foot. This symbolizes that the Holy Spirit must guide you. Every person makes decisions, and those decisions have consequences. Make sure that you are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Do not go your own way. Sometimes the Spirit speaks in a still small voice. You will only know His leading if you are seeking His leading and if you are surrendered to His will.

The Bible says in Leviticus 14:19-32, “And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering:[20] And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.[21] And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil;[22] And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.[23] And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, 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 for a wave offering before the LORD:[25] And 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 upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot:[26] And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand:[27] And 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 of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering:[29] And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the LORD.[30] And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get;[31] Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the LORD.[32] This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing.” When a person with a skin problem came to the priest and to the temple, that person was in effect coming to the Lord. Any person who comes to the Lord must first of all take care of the sin problem. The first offering made in these verses is found in verse 19: “the sin offering.” Make sure your sin problem is taken care of. You cannot be with the Lord unless your sins are forgiven. That is what Jesus can do for you. He is your sin offering. And then after the sin offering many other offerings are mentioned in these verses that are required for this person to be cleansed from his leprosy. Why so many offerings? For one thing it shows that the offerings of animals were really not enough. Compare that with the offering of Jesus one time for ever. Notice the message of verse 32: “This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing.” There is nothing that the leper can do for himself to fix his problem. Only Jesus can take care of the sin problem. It says in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness that we have done but according to his mercy he saved us.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 14:33-57, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,[34] When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;[35] And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house:[36] Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house:[37] And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than 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 the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house;[40] Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city:[41] And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place:[42] And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house.[43] And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered;[44] Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house: it is unclean.[45] And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place.[46] Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even.[47] And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes.[48] And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.[49] And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:[50] And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water:[51] And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and 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 with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:[53] But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.[54] This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall,[55] And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house,[56] And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot:[57] To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.”

Verse 34 speaks of a “plague of leprosy in a house.” As we have already stated, the term “leprosy” is used in the Old Testament to mean more than the disease leprosy that we know about. Basically, it referred to something growing on the surface, whether it be the surface of your skin or the walls of a house. This “leprosy in a house” appears to be mold. First they tried to scrape the mold off the walls, and then they tried to replace the stones of the walls. And if the mold kept coming back, they were required to tear the house down. And so the law of Moses protected people from the dangers of mold. Just as we know today, mold can be extremely dangerous if it is allowed to grow and spread and remain in a house. It is worth pointing out that this “leprosy” had to be totally eradicated. That is the way sin is. Sin must be totally eradicated through receiving forgiveness from the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing unclean or sinful can enter into heaven.

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