LEVITICUS – A HOLY PEOPLE’s ACCESS to The HOLY GOD – Chapter THIRTEEN & FOURTEEN

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez and James Fire

Complete Study of Leviticus by pastor Chuck Smith 

LEVITICUS 13 & 14: “LEPROSY: A SEVERE SKIN & SIN PROBLEM” – by Sonny Islas, Facebook video. 

INTRODUCTION: In order for us to understand and appreciate the Old Testament, especially books like Leviticus, we need to understand that God, that is, Yahweh was the King over this people group: Israel. This type of government is known as a Theocracy. Here’s a basic definition of a Theocracy: A Theocracy is a form of government in which a deity of some type (in this case it’s the One true God) is recognized as the supreme ruling authority, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries (in this case, Moses and the priests of Israel) that manage the day-to-day affairs of the government. – Wikipedia’s Definition

Another thing to keep in mind is that Leviticus means: The Duties of the Levites or Priestly Duties. One of their main duties was to upkeep the Tabernacle (the tent of meeting/worship), to pray and to perform animal sacrifices. But here in Leviticus 13 and 14 we find that they had the responsibility of examining bodies that may be infected with Leprosy or other severe skin conditions. They were in a sense – public health officers, like our modern CDC: Center for Disease Control (Only they didn’t have to deal with Dr. Fauci! … if you know what I mean).

It was their job to prevent an outbreak of leprosy in the camp – very much like it is a pastor’s job to not allow flagrant sin to spread in the church. And the main way in which the pastor does that is to pray against it, to preach against it and to carefully counsel those who are infected by it (to the point of being overcome by it).

I took this from an article I read regarding Leprosy aka (Hanson’s Disease): Today, about 208,000 people worldwide are infected with leprosy, according to the World Health Organization; most of them are in Africa and Asia. About 100 people are diagnosed with leprosy in the U.S. every year, mostly in the South, California, Hawaii, and some other U.S. territories.

CHAPTER 13 – THE LAW CONCERNING LEPROSY

LEVITICUS 13:1-59
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 "When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. 3 "The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean. 4 "But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days. 5 "And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore appears to be as it was, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him another seven days. 

6 "Then the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore has faded, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 "But if the scab should at all spread over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again. 8 "And if the priest sees that the scab has indeed spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy. 9 "When the leprous sore is on a person, then he shall be brought to the priest. 10 "And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the swelling on the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white, and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling,

11 "it is an old leprosy on the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not isolate him, for he is unclean. 12 "And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, 13 "then the priest shall consider; and indeed if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. It has all turned white. He is clean. 14 "But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 "And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean; for the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy.

16 "Or if the raw flesh changes and turns white again, he shall come to the priest. 17 "And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the sore has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. He is clean. 18 "If the body develops a boil in the skin, and it is healed, 19 "and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest; 20 "and if, when the priest sees it, it indeed appears deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore which has broken out of the boil.

21 "But if the priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs in it, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days; 22 "and if it should at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. 23 "But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 24 "Or if the body receives a burn on its skin by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white or white, 25 "then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the hair of the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is leprosy broken out in the burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore.

26 "But if the priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs in the bright spot, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. 27 "And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore. 28 "But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn. The priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn. 29 "If a man or woman has a sore on the head or the beard, 30 "then the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is in it thin yellow hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a scaly leprosy of the head or beard.

31 "But if the priest examines the scaly sore, and indeed it does not appear deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale seven days. 32 "And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if the scale has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the scale does not appear deeper than the skin, 33 "he shall shave himself, but the scale he shall not shave. And the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale another seven days. 34 "On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scale; and indeed if the scale has not spread over the skin, and does not appear deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35 "But if the scale should at all spread over the skin after his cleansing, 

36 "then the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the scale has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow hair. He is unclean. 37 "But if the scale appears to be at a standstill, and there is black hair grown up in it, the scale has healed. He is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 38 "If a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, specifically white bright spots, 39 "then the priest shall look; and indeed if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white spot that grows on the skin. He is clean. 40 "As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean.

41 "He whose hair has fallen from his forehead, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean. 42 "And if there is on the bald head or bald forehead a reddish-white sore, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 "Then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the swelling of the sore is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body, 44 "he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head. 45 "Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!'

46 "He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. 47 "Also, if a garment has a leprous plague in it, whether it is a woolen garment or a linen garment, 48 "whether it is in the warp or woof of linen or wool, whether in leather or in anything made of leather, 49 "and if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a leprous plague and shall be shown to the priest. 50 "The priest shall examine the plague and isolate that which has the plague seven days.

51 "And he shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, in the leather or in anything made of leather, the plague is an active leprosy. It is unclean. 52 "He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire. 53 "But if the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, 54 "then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the plague; and he shall isolate it another seven days. 55 "Then the priest shall examine the plague after it has been washed; and indeed if the plague has not changed its color, though the plague has not spread, it is unclean and you shall burn it in the fire; it continues eating away, whether the damage is outside or inside.

56 "If the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has faded after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the garment, whether out of the warp or out of the woof, or out of the leather. 57 "But if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a spreading plague; you shall burn with fire that in which is the plague. 58 "And if you wash the garment, either warp or woof, or whatever is made of leather, if the plague has disappeared from it, then it shall be washed a second time, and shall be clean. 59 "This is the law of the leprous plague in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or in anything made of leather, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean."

[3b] THE PRIEST SHALL EXAMINE HIM AND PRONOUNCE HIM CLEAN: The priest had the authority to pronounce someone either clean or unclean depending on what the LORD had said to look for.

In a similar way, we the New Testament Christians who are also called priests of God in 1 PETER 2:9, have the authority to pronounce someone forgiven or not, saved or not, clean or unclean - solely based on what God’s Word says. i.e. in JOHN 20:23 Jesus says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” In other words if someone truly “repents and believes” in Jesus for salvation, we can say to them that they are clean/forgiven/saved. But if they do not “repent and believe” in Jesus, we can say they are unclean/unforgiven/unsaved. What we say has to be according to God’s Word like the priest here.

Being infected by Leprosy was one of the saddest things that can possibly happen to a person. Beside the slow and painful bodily decay which one had to endure (which I’ll explain in a moment), you were basically excommunicated and put outside the camp ([46] “His dwelling shall be outside the camp). Away from family and friends but even worse, even away from God’s presence, in the sense that they were not allowed in the court of the Tabernacle. They were barred from the camp/community, this way they didn't contaminate or infect anyone else because leprosy was contagious (not highly – but contagious nonetheless). This was done to protect the others from this deadly disease. The only ones you can be around were those infected and dying just like you.

This serves as a picture of those in the New Testament Church who refuse to repent after 2 to 3 chances and eventually have to be put out of the Church/camp until they repent (found in MATT 18).

When a man or a woman was confirmed with leprosy and pronounced unclean verse [45] says, “his clothes shall be torn and his head bare (shaved); and he shall cover his mustache (referring to his lips/mouth), and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!

These outward expressions were connected to death – as one mourning the death of a loved one. Ancient Jewish Rabbis would call them “the walking dead.” And the reason why they covered their mouths was because of their infectious breath.

Article - “When a person with leprosy coughs or sneezes, they may spread droplets containing the Mycobacterium leprae bacteria that another person breathes in.” (They cried “Unclean!” to warn others lest they get too close and become infected.)

Leprosy primarily affects your skin and nerves outside your brain and spinal cord, called the peripheral nerves. It may also strike your eyes and the thin tissue lining of the inside of your nose.

Lepers were treated very badly by others – especially around Jesus’ day. Jewish custom said that lepers shouldn’t be greeted, (so, a simple and polite “good day sir” or “good day ma’am” was a no no). People were told to stay at least 6 feet away from them. It’s been said that some Rabbi’s would chuck rocks at them (like stray dogs) to keep them away.

Jesus on the other hand showed lepers love; He touched them, healed them and gave them hope (such as in:

MATTHEW 8:1-4
1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed. Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.

Listen to the decaying process of leprosy written by David Guzik:

“When leprosy first appears on a victim’s skin, it begins as small, red spots. Before too long they get bigger, start to turn white, having a shiny or scaly appearance. Soon the spots spread over the entire body and the hair begins to fall out – first from the head, then even from the eyebrows. As things get worse, the fingernails and toenails become loose; they start to rot and eventually fall off. Then the joints of fingers and toes begin to rot and start to fall off piece by piece. In the mouth, the gums start shrinking and are unable to hold teeth, so several teeth are often lost. Leprosy keeps eating away at the face until the nose is literally gone, and the palate and even eyes rot – and the victim wastes away until death.”

The reason why I titled tonight’s teaching Leprosy: A SEVERE SKIN & SIN PROBLEM is because leprosy in the bible is a picture of sin.

Listen to a quote by Spurgeon “Every man by nature is like a leper, loathsome in his person, infected in all his actions and in all that he does; he is incapable of fellowship with God’s people, and he is shut out utterly and entirely by his sin from the presence and acceptance of God.” (Spurgeon)

Keeping in mind that leprosy is a picture of sin:

In NUMBERS 12 we find Aaron and Miriam expressing jealousy, envy and rebellion towards Moses their brother by saying “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through US also?” Then the LORD in His anger struck Miriam with Leprosy and for seven days, she was kicked out of the camp. Here, Leprosy is connected with (ministry) pride, Jealousy, envy and rebellion. Those who serve nearest to a head pastor (i.e. assistant pastors and church leaders of all kinds) are most susceptible to this kind of leprosy in the local church.

In 2 CHRONICLES 26 we find King Uzziah’s heart filled with pride in that he entered the Temple of the LORD and burned incense, but it wasn’t for kings to do but for priests to do. Azariah the priest tried stopping Uzziah from doing this prideful and rebellious act, but Uzziah kept on. Suddenly God struck Uzziah with leprosy right there and then. Sadly King Uzziah was a leper until his death, and he was left in isolation for the rest of his life.

Like leprosy, sin starts off small but when left unchecked, it grows into something very painful and ugly.

Leprosy causes nerve damage. It makes you lose feeling/senses. You can get burned and not feel it. You can scratch your nose right off of your face and not even feel it. In the same way spiritually speaking - ongoing sin will make your conscience numb to conviction and the gentle tug of the Holy Spirit. Speaking of the world, Paul says, in EPHESIANS 4:19 “who being passed feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness [filth, immorality, rudeness, vile], to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

Leprosy causes deadly bacteria to come out of your mouth which can infect others. In the same way, spiritually speaking, when we give into sin, our reckless words and attitudes can cause others serious harm. 

GALATIANS 5:14-15 says, 

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another [with words], beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

Leprosy causes muscle weakness. In the same way, spiritually speaking, sin weakens our mind, body and soul and our testimonies. 

PSALM 32:3-4 
When I kept silent [about sin], my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality [spiritual strength] was turned into the drought of summer. Selah

Leprosy causes isolation. In the same way spiritually speaking when we’re sinning, we wander off and eventually look for other lepers like us to hang out with. Proverbs 18:1 says, “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.”

Leprosy causes major bodily disfigurement. A repulsive appearance. In the same way spiritually speaking, sin left unchecked will cause someone to become spiritual unattractive – very ugly. Our testimony becomes marred like a lepers face.

Getting into the next chapter, you’ll notice the same points made in the previous chapter that are made here as well.

CHAPTER 14 - 

LEVITICUS 14:1-20

1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. 3 "And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, 4 "then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, 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, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. 7 "And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. 8 "He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp and shall stay outside his tent seven days. 9 "But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows-all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean. 10 "And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 "Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 "And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 13 "Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. 14 "The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big 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 "Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. 17 "And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. 18 "The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD. 19 "Then the priest shall offer the sin offering and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 "And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

Note, “the eight day” – it’s new beginnings! The old life of leprosy – the old life of sin, is done! New life is found in Christ. We see here in this ritual cleansing the shedding of blood (representing redemption in Christ), and the anointing of oil (the giving of the Holy Spirit). These are applied to the thumb, the ear, the toe – representing the work of the LORD with our hands, hearing the Word of the LORD with our ears, and our walk with the LORD with our feet.

LEVITICUS 14:21-39
21 "But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil, 22 "and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 "He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, 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 as a wave offering before the LORD. 25 "Then 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 on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 "And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand. 27 "Then 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 some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. 29 "The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. 30 "And he shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can afford- 31 "such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the LORD. 32 "This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the usual cleansing." 33 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 34 "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession, 35 "and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, 'It seems to me that there is some plague in the house,' 36 "then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house. 37 "And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in 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 on the seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house,

Rich or poor, the LORD meets us where we are, and He makes provision for all, to come and make an offering of sin in the act of atonement (payment for sin). The LORD knows what we are capable of, and or willing to do – and He is willing to work with those who give a lot, and those who give a little. See here the humbleness and tender-heartedness of our GOD! Over all, GOD expects something – from everyone!

In regards to this leprosy: we have the leprous person, the leper’s clothing as well as their housing. GOD understands that bacteria contaminates not just bodies, but surfaces, and so all must be cleansed.

Make sure that there is no plague in your house, your heart, your life – no cussing, no pornography, no disrespect, don’t allow your home to be plagued with worldly junk – any of this will not only affect you, but those around you – exactly as leprosy was spread from person to person. Rather we are to love one another, pray for one another, keep each other accountable, that we are all walking uprightly.

Here below is a process of cleansing the house in an attempt to save the structure. The removal of infected stonework is localized to only those stones affected. This is done rather than tearing down the entire house, because it’s hoped that the house can still be saved.

Very much the same idea with sin; remember the words of Jesus:

MATTHEW 5:29-30
29 "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

LEVITICUS 14:40-57
40 "then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city. 41 "And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. 42 "Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and plaster the house. 43 "Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered, 44 "then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean. 45 "And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place. 46 "Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be unclean until evening. 47 "And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes. 48 "But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. 49 "And he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 50 "Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water; 51 "and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, 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 the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet. 53 "Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean. 54 "This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, 55 "for the leprosy of a garment and of a house, 56 "for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot, 57 "to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy."

Such is the house that is not established on the Rock of the LORD Jesus Christ (MATT 7:24-27; 16:18)– if it’s built on the sand (this sinful world), then it will be destroyed when the storm comes. A house given over to sin, will be destroyed by the sin – that will not remain in just one area in a person’s life, but spreads to all areas, and like this house given over to leprosy, that house must be destroyed (before it can spread to other people in other houses). Just so, sin permitted by a single soul can eventually (if left unchecked) overtake an entire society, spreading spiritual sickness and ruin.