Leprous Person צָרַע

We are moving into chapter fourteen of Leviticus with our word for today. צָרַע afflicted with a rash or skin disease, leprous, be struck with leprosy. It is used 20 times in the Old Testament, twice in our chapter. Our word is used in the sense of a person afflicted with skin disease, leprosy. Several people are identified in the Bible with this condition such as Miriam, King Uzziah, and Naaman the Syrian. Numbers 12:10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam מְצֹרַ֣עַת was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, מְצֹרָֽעַת she was leprous. 2 Chronicles 26:21 And King Uzziah מְצֹרָ֣ע was a leper to the day of his death, and מְצֹרָ֔ע being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was מְצֹרָֽע a leper. This is how our word is used twice in our chapter today. Leviticus 14:1-9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of הַמְּצֹרָ֔ע the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of הַצָּרַ֖עַת leprous disease is healed in הַצָּרֽוּעַthe leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean. The Israelites had no cure for leprosy. If the victim became well, it was a gift of God’s mercy and grace. “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet,” said Jesus, “and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27). If we aren’t saved by God’s grace, then we aren’t saved at all; for nobody deserves to be saved. The steps in the leper’s cleansing and restoration picture to us what Jesus Christ has done for sinners. The priest goes to the leper. Since the unclean leper wasn’t permitted to enter the camp, the priest had to go outside the camp to minister to him or her. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). When He ministered here on earth, Jesus was called “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34); He compared Himself to a doctor helping his needy patients (Matt. 9:10–13). As God’s Great Physician, Jesus makes “house calls” and comes to sinners right where they are. In the case of the Jewish leper, the priest went out to investigate and determine if indeed the victim was healed; but Jesus comes to us that He might heal us of the sickness of sin. The victim offers the two birds. This unusual ritual pictures to us what Christ did to save a lost world. Birds don’t belong in clay jars; they belong in the heavens. Jesus came down from heaven and became a man (John 3:13, 31; 6:38, 42). As it were, He put Himself into a clay jar so that He might die for our sins. The running water over which the bird was killed reminds us of the Holy Spirit of God (John 7:37–39), for Jesus offered Himself to God “through the eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14). When the blood-stained living bird was turned loose, it pictured our Lord’s resurrection; for the resurrection of Christ is as much a part of the Gospel message as is His death. Only a living Savior can save dead sinners. The blood of the bird that was sacrificed was in the jar and on the living bird, but it also had to be applied to the healed leper. Using the hyssop (Exodus 12:22; Psalm 51:7), the priest sprinkled the blood on the leper seven times and then pronounced the leper clean. “Without shedding of blood is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). How did the victim know he was clean? The priest told him so! How do believers today know that God has saved us? He tells us so in His Word! No matter how the leper felt or what he looked like, God said he was clean, and that settled it.