The preceding lesson covers different kinds of uncleanness, of which the worst is the leprosy in man. This lesson covers the way for a leper, a leprous garment, and a leprous house to be cleansed before God. This cleansing shows the all-inclusive salvation God has prepared and accomplished for us.
The cleansing of the leper typifies that a person invaded by sin is cleansed entirely through the redemption accomplished through Christ’s death and the salvation carried out by His resurrection. The cleansing of the leper also typifies a person’s thorough dealing with what he does and what he is according to the redemption through Christ’s death and the salvation by His resurrection.
“This shall be the law of the leper on the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest” (Lev. 14:2). This signifies an unclean person being brought to the Lord. Preaching the gospel is actually bringing unclean persons, sinners, to the Lord.
The priest going outside the camp to examine the leper (v. 3) signifies the Lord Jesus leaving His original place and humbling Himself to be near to the sinner. The Lord came from the heavens to the earth in order to be near to us, the sinners. This is portrayed in Matthew 8:1-4. The leper should have been isolated, excluded, from the people of God. Nevertheless, having sympathy in love for the leper, the Lord Jesus came near to him and touched him in order that he might be cleansed.
In Leviticus 14:4-9 we see that the leper who was to be cleansed needed to seek cleansing before God. This signifies that we, who are sick of the sin of leprosy, still need to have our shortcomings and defilement dealt with before God, even though we have been healed by life, so that we might be cleansed. Cleansing from leprosy requires not only action on God’s side but also coordination on our side. This means that we need to seek for cleansing. Our seeking is our cooperation with God’s grace and love. Let us consider the items included in the process of cleansing.
“The priest shall command that two living clean birds and cedar wood and scarlet strands and hyssop be taken for the one who is to be cleansed” (v. 4). These two living clean birds signify that Christ is clean and without any defilement, that He came from the heavens, belongs to the heavens, and transcends the earth, and that He is living and full of life. The two birds signify that Christ died for us so that our filthiness might be taken away and rose for us so that we might be delivered from our weakness by the power and strength of life. Hence, these two birds signify Christ in crucifixion and Christ in resurrection. We need the crucified and resurrected Christ in order to be cleansed.
Cedar wood in verse 4 signifies the honorable and uplifted humanity of the Lord (cf. 1 Kings 4:33), which enables Him to be our Savior. Hyssop in verse 4, which is among the smallest of plants, signifies that the Lord was willing to be lowly, becoming in the likeness of men, so that He might be near to man and become man’s Savior. On the one hand, the Lord has the highest standard of humanity, as typified by cedar wood; on the other hand, He was willing to become lowly so that He might be available to us, as typified by hyssop.
Scarlet strands in Leviticus 14:4 signifies that the Lord lowered Himself to become a man that He might do the will of God and shed His blood on the cross for our redemption, thus becoming the honorable and high King. The color scarlet signifies the shedding of blood, and it also implies kingship. Christ was slain, crucified, for redemption, and He became the King through the accomplishment of redemption.
Verse 5 says, “The priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered in an earthen vessel over running water.” The Hebrew expression for running water literally means “living water,” signifying the eternal, living Spirit of God. The earthen vessel signifies the Lord’s humanity. The slaughter of a bird over running water in an earthen vessel signifies that through death in the flesh the Lord offered Himself to God through the eternal and living Spirit. Hebrews 9:14 is the fulfillment of this type. This verse says that through the eternal Spirit Christ offered Himself without blemish to God. When He was dying on the cross, He offered Himself to God through the living water—the eternal, living Spirit of God—that filled Him. Christ was not alone when He was on the cross; the eternal Spirit was in Him and with Him.
In Leviticus 14:6 four things—the other bird, the cedar wood, the scarlet strands, and the hyssop—were dipped in the blood of the killed bird. The Lord’s redemption, His honorable, uplifted, and yet lowly humanity, and His resurrection, ascension, and glorification are all implied in this type. The cedar wood typifies Christ’s honorable and uplifted humanity, and the hyssop, His lowly humanity. The slain bird signifies His redemption, and the other bird, His resurrection. Letting the living bird go into the open field to fly and soar in the air signifies Christ’s ascension. The Lord’s glorification is signified by the scarlet strands, which imply kingship. Christ is glorified in His kingship. Christ was humbled in His incarnation, shamed in His crucifixion, and glorified in His kingship. Therefore, in this one type we see that the Lord’s perfect redemption not only causes man to be cleansed objectively in his position, but also causes man to experience subjectively, in the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s suffering in the shedding of His blood in His honorable, uplifted, and yet lowly humanity and to experience His death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification.
These items have all been accomplished for us by Christ, and we need to experience and enjoy them in order to be cleansed. We have died in the crucified Christ, the killed bird. We are soaring in ascension in the resurrected Christ, the living bird, and we have been completely freed in Christ to overcome and transcend everything.
“The one who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe in water, and he shall be clean” (v. 8a). This signifies that, on the one hand, a sinner who is to be cleansed needs to experience Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, and on the other hand, he needs to bear the responsibility to deal with and cut off all that is of his old living and natural life.
The hair of the head signifies man’s glory, an area in which one boasts, glorifies himself, and makes a display before others. The beard signifies man’s self-assumed honor, which causes people to have a feeling that they are superior to others. The eyebrows, the beauty of the human face, signify man’s excellencies, merits, and virtues. All the hair of the body signifies man’s strength and ability. Bathing oneself in water, which is to have our entire being buried in water, signifies dealing with one’s entire being. These five items together equal ridding the self of all its glory, honor, excellencies, merits, virtues, strength, and ability, having our entire being washed, buried, and terminated in deep water.
“After that he may come into the camp, but he shall dwell outside his tent seven days” (v. 8b). This signifies that a sinner who is to be cleansed cannot easily recover the fellowship with the brothers; he needs to be watchful, to wait, and to be dealt with further. This shows that dealing 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.
Verse 9 shows that after watching and waiting for seven days, the leper who was to be cleansed had to shave his entire body once more, wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh. This signifies that a sinner who is to be cleansed needs to bear responsibility for dealing with every part of his natural life and daily walk, indicating that God wants us to deal with our sin and our sinful self in a serious way. If we deal with ourselves definitely, thoroughly, and absolutely, we shall be cleansed.