Cleansing from Skin Diseases (Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16)
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is the law of the one afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest. The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed, the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed. Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot. And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field.
The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days. On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.
On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil. The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm, dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.
The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering and offer it on the altar, with the grain offering, to make atonement for him, and he will be clean. If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil, and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Then the priest is to pour some of the oil into his left palm and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD. The priest shall also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on the same places as the blood of the guilt offering.
The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. Then he must sacrifice one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD for the one to be cleansed.
This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”
Having described the diagnostic process for skin diseases, Moses now describes the rituals to be followed to declare someone clean and ready to re-enter society. Why are these rituals so long and involved? God wants people to be assured that anyone returning to society will pose no threat to their families and their neighbors. The priests are to go to the diseased person outside the camp and examine him. If the disease has cleared, the priests sacrifice one clean bird over a pot with clean water, sprinkle the patient and the other bird seven times with the blood, and set the other bird free.
The patient is to shave off all his hair and bathe; then he may enter the camp but he may not enter his tent until the eighth day when he shaves all his hair again and makes an offering of three lambs, a grain offering, and an olive oil offering. If the patient cannot afford three lambs, he can offer turtle doves or pigeons. During this ritual, the priests will anoint the patient on his right earlobe, his right thumb, and his right big toe as a sign that from then on he will hear only righteousness, do only righteousness, and walk righteously.
APPLICATION: We might wonder why God is ordaining such complicated rituals. God wants to make sure that people realize that these patients have truly been declared clean and that they are no longer to be social outcasts. What must it be like to be a cured patient and to watch that one bird fly free? Now the patient himself/herself will also be free.
The late President Theodore Roosevelt has been quoted as saying that, “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” If we are honest with ourselves, we can agree with that statement. While we might not be suffering from a skin disease, but each one of us suffers from a disease of congenital sin. Romans 7:21-25 tells us, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” No matter how hard we try, we sin. But there is good news.
We are on the After side of Calvary. Rather than offering animals or birds, we can trust in the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin. But we must believe that Jesus has done this for us. Let’s pray.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord Jesus, help us to trust that You have shed Your blood for our sins. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In Your mighty and precious Name, King Jesus. Amen.
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