“The priest shall examine him, and if there is a white swelling in the skin and it has turned the hair white, and there is an emergence of raw flesh in the swelling, it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not isolate him, for he is unclean” (vv. 10-11). This signifies that the old sin has come back again through the weakness of the strength for behavior.
“If the leprosy breaks out farther in the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of him who has the disease from head to foot, as far as the priest can see, then the priest shall examine him, and if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him who has the disease clean; it has all turned white; he is clean” (vv. 12-13). This signifies that one who is full of sin and who is willing to confess all his sin before God is cleansed. This is the opposite of what our opinion would be. According to the type here, if one is full of sin, absolutely sinful, yet does not cover his sin but instead makes a thorough confession before God, he will be forgiven and cleansed. However, one who is not willing to be exposed, one who hides himself, will remain leprous. Hiding ourselves and covering our sin are signs of leprosy.
“But on the day raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. The priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean; the raw flesh is unclean; it is leprosy” (vv. 14-15). Here we see that when raw flesh appears on the skin, it is leprosy. This signifies that the old sin has come back again.
“But if the raw flesh turns again to white, then he shall come to the priest; and the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased spot has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him who had the disease clean; he is clean” (vv. 16-17). This signifies that if the repeated sin is confessed, it will be cleansed.
“When there is in the skin of the flesh a boil, and it has healed, and in the place where the boil was there is a white swelling, or a reddish-white bright spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. And when the priest examines it, if it appears lower than the skin, and the hair in it is turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease; it has broken out in the boil” (vv. 18-20). This signifies that one becomes weak in his outward living after being saved and has new weak points manifested in his conduct.
“When the flesh has in its skin a burn by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white or white, then the priest shall examine it. If the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is leprosy; it has broken out in the burn. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease” (vv. 24-25). This signifies that a saved person’s acting by the flesh, for example his losing his temper, his justifying himself, and his not being willing to forgive others, is like a sign of sickness. Losing our temper is a sin; it is thus a sign of spiritual leprosy. The same is true of self-justification. Justifying ourselves, that is, excusing ourselves and not confessing our failures, mistakes, and wrongdoings, is a symptom of spiritual leprosy. Likewise, being unwilling to forgive others is also a symptom of spiritual leprosy. It is difficult for us fallen human beings to forgive others, but it is easy for us to remember those who have offended us. Sometimes we may seem to forgive our brothers and sisters in the Lord, but we forgive without forgetting the offense. We remember the offense and may even talk to others about it, all the while claiming that we have forgiven the offending party. This is forgiveness without forgetting, and it is a sign of spiritual sickness.
In the church life we all are tested concerning how pure we are in our motive, purpose, and activities. The church life will prove where we are, what we are, and who we are. Our person, our heart, our mind, our emotion, our intention, our motive, our purpose-all these will be tested by the church life. Perhaps our motive is pure to a degree, but it may not be absolutely pure. Who among us can say that he is absolutely pure in motive, intention, will, and purpose? None of us can say this. Remember, we were born uncleanness, and we are a totality of uncleanness. It is impossible for one who is a totality of uncleanness to be absolutely pure in motive.
If we see that we are a totality of uncleanness and that it is impossible for us to be absolutely pure in our motive, intention, and purpose, we shall realize how much we need God’s full salvation. We need Christ with His death and resurrection. We need Christ to be our burnt offering and our sin offering. As our burnt offering, Christ is our living. As our sin offering, Christ takes care of our sin, not the sin before we were saved but the sin that we still have after our salvation. We have Christ with His death and resurrection, and we have Christ as the burnt offering and the sin offering. This is God’s full salvation.
Before we go to sleep at night, we should have a time of confession before the Lord, asking Him to forgive our sins and impurities. In particular, we need to ask the Lord to forgive any impurity in our motives. We should take Him once again as our sin offering and trespass offering and apply His precious, cleansing blood to our situation. Then with a purged conscience, a conscience cleansed by the blood and by the Spirit, we shall be able to sleep in peace.
The second section of Leviticus, a section that deals with our holy living, begins with the three matters of discernment in diet, the uncleanness of our birth, and our leprous condition. Leprosy is the sin invented by Satan. Sin came into us through the fall of our father Adam. When Adam fell, the very leprosy invented by Satan entered into us. This leprosy still remains in us. This was the reason Paul could say, “If what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that do it but sin that dwells in me” (Rom. 7:20). Paul realized that the germ of leprosy is within us. Having entered into us, leprosy now issues forth from within us as sins, offenses, and transgressions. For these we need Christ to be our sin offering and trespass offering.
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