The beard, which also was to be shaved off, signifies man’s honor. People often esteem themselves honorable and have a superior feeling that they are above others. This is a matter of man’s honor typified by the beard.
The beauty of the human face is mainly with the eyebrows. Thus, the eyebrows signify man’s excellencies, merits, and virtues. These are man’s naturally good and strong points, which do not issue from the experience of God’s salvation but from one’s natural birth.
All the hair of the body signifies man’s strength and ability. As human beings, we have our natural strength and ability. This means that we have hair all over our body, and this hair must be shaved off.
Bathing oneself in water signifies dealing with one’s entire being. This is to have our entire being buried in water.
Added together, these five items equal getting rid of the self with all its glory, honor, excellencies, merits, virtues, strength, and ability. If we get rid of ourselves in this way, we shall surely be clean. There will be no leprosy. However, as long as the self exists, we shall have leprosy in some way-in the hair of our head, in our beard, in our eyebrows, in the hair of our body, in our self. Therefore, our entire being should be washed, buried, terminated, in deep water. Then because we have nothing and are nothing, we shall be clean.
“After that he may enter into the camp, but shall remain outside his tent for seven days” (v. 8b). This signifies that a sinner who is to be cleansed is still unable to recover the fellowship with the brothers; he needs to be watchful, to wait, and to be dealt with further. Even after a leper had shaved off all his hair and had bathed himself in water, he still needed to wait, to watch over himself, and to be dealt with further. This indicates that to deal with our sin, our leprosy, our rebellion, which comes from Satan, is a serious matter with God. Because sin is so serious, we should not deal with it in a loose, light, or careless way.
Leviticus 14:9 says, “And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows-even all his hair. Then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.” After watching and waiting for seven days, he shaved his entire body once more, washed his clothes, and bathed his flesh. This signifies that a sinner who is to be cleansed needs to bear the responsibility for dealing with every part of his natural life and daily walk. This is the way of cleansing shown to us in the divine revelation. Here we see that God wants us to deal with our sin and our sinful self in such a serious way. If we deal with ourselves definitely, thoroughly, and absolutely, we shall be cleansed.
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