The Cleansing - Leviticus 14:1-32

14:1-32 - Chapter 14 is really long but again, mostly instructions that I don’t find all that interesting. TB does almost 2 full lectures on it and the IM has a very long instructive piece, but we’ll see how much we go over. Chapter 14 is most instructions on how the priest is to cleanse the healed “leper” once their skin afflictions are gone. It starts with the priest going outside of the camp walls to see if the skin afflictions are healed. Once it’s determined that the skin lesions are healed, the person is to take two birds, “one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.” I guess that means that the bird is drowned, which is interesting because in the TB lecture he talks extensively about Christ on the cross having water gush out of his chest after he died and the spear was stabbed into his side. He said that this, and apparently the bird thing, is symbolic of Christ being the “living water.” The person is then pronounced clean while dipping the bird and the cedar wood into the dead bird’s blood 7 times. But they can’t come back into the camp yet, they have to stay our for another 7 days, then they can come back on the 8th day. The 8th day is symbolic of the person being accepted into the fold of Israel, just like a baby boy is when he’s circumcised on his 8th day.

The important part to note here is that being set outside of the camp due to this skin disease is like being cut off from God through sin and the whole process of coming back into the fold is highly symbolic to us being reconciled to God after we’ve been cut off from Him through sin and the fallenness of the world.

On the 7th day before coming back into the camp of Israel, the person is supposed to “shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair she shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.” This could be a public health issue, and/of symbolic of rebirth, re-acceptance into the family of God. Then on the 8th day the person “shall take 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.”

The priest then offers multiple sacrifices and touches the person with the animal’s blood, then touches them with oil and after the ritual, then that person who was once cast out for uncleanness is welcomed back home. The IIM gives a pretty extensive break down of the symbolism of all the players in this scenario, I’ll go over them quickly:

1. The Leper – this is the disease that causes decay and death in the body, this is symbolic of sin, which causes spiritual death and decay for us. Sin causes us to be cut off from God. It also says that this is similar to the “natural man” that we must develop into a healthy, God-centered spirit. I have seen this to be true in my own life, and it doesn’t even have to be major sin, even though that’s like taking a machete to my relationship with God. Even just regular distraction, or anger which aren’t sins, but I guess when I’m angry but don’t turn to God with that anger, then it festers into all types of self-destructive thoughts and behaviors.

2. The Priest – this symbolizes both God and God’s representatives. The representative does the work on God’s behalf, but God is the one who even makes reconciliation possible.

3. The birds – the first bird represents the blood that Christ shed through the atonement so that we could be reconciled and forgiven. The second bird is set free and therefore represents “that the man had been freed from the bondage of sin.”

4. The cedar wood – cedar is used to preserve things through it’s natural characteristics, “so the cedar tree symbolized preservation from decay.”

5. The Scarlet wool – wool dyed red to remind us of the blood “which is the symbol of life and also of the atonement.”

6. The Hyssop – this was an ancient symbol of purification, though not much else is explained about it

7. The basin of water – this where the water and the blood were mixed, both are symbols of birth, both spiritual and physical. It could be symbolic of the baptismal font which is where we are spiritually reborn, “over the basin of water the first bird was killed, symbolizing the death of the natural man and the eventual rebirth of the spiritually innocent person.” So I guess the first bird wasn’t drowned but instead had it’s neck cut.

8. The washing of the leper – clear symbol of cleansing

9. The shaving of the hair – removing all hair, even the eyebrows makes someone’s appearance very much like a newborn baby, all in alignment with the rebirth metaphor. I’m also pretty sure that there was a public health component to this.

10. The sacrifice of the lamb – this symbolizes Christ and the shedding of His blood for our sins so that we could be brought back to God through the atonement.

11. Smearing the blood on parts of the body – I’m just going to quote the IM here, “When the priest touched something with the blood, his action suggested the sanctification of or atonement made for that thing. In this case we find the blood of the lamb sanctifying the organ of hearing or obedience (the ear), the organ of action (the hand), and the organ of following or walking in the proper way (the foot). Thus, every aspect of the person’s life was touched and affected by the atonement of Christ.”

12. The oil – The olive tree was an ancient symbol of peace and purity and of the Holy Ghost. “To touch with oil suggested the effect of the Spirit on the same organs of living and action. Thus, the blood of Christ cleansed every aspect of the candidate’sl ife, and then the process was repeated with the oil to show that the Spirit too affected everything he did. In this manner, the person received peace and purity.”

I was not excited about this one to be honest, but it turned out pretty good.