When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests (Leviticus 13:2).

The book of Leviticus yields a theme of holiness and purity. The key verse of Leviticus is “ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:45). Leviticus is about holiness. A holy God. A holy people. Holy food. A holy sanctuary with holy furnishings. A holy priesthood with holy garments. Holy sacrifices. Holy worship. Holy festivals. Holy days. And a holy land. The whole book cries out, “holy, holy, holy!”

Holiness was distinguished by that which was clean or unclean. The Lord, through the Law, draws the line between that which is clean and unclean. Clean and unclean animals. Clean and unclean insects. Clean and unclean people. Clean and unclean places. You couldn’t touch a dead body or a dead animal, or you would be unclean. Certain bodily discharges made someone unclean, and the clothes and furniture that were touched by that person were considered unclean. If the priest was going to enter the sanctuary, he better stop by the brazen laver and get clean. Because nothing was to be unclean in the sanctuary, or in the sacred space where God was supposed to dwell.

Sacrifice had to be made if something was to be holy. Cleansing had to take place if something was to be considered clean.

The Bible teaches that sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam, and thereby death by sin (Rom. 5:12). The fall of humanity produced the fall of the world. Death, disease, and defilements are the curse of sin. Leviticus brings into focus the damage done by sin, and nothing brings this idea into focus more than the teaching of leprosy.

The Plague

Leprosy wasn’t in itself sin. Rather, leprosy, and all other diseases, were the result of sin. Leprosy represented the uncleanliness of sin (Ps. 147:3; Isa. 1:5-6; Jer. 8:2; 30:12; Mk. 2:17). Leprosy was the scourge of the Ancient East. If anyone was diagnosed with leprosy it was like a death certificate.

Leprosy began imperceptibly. First there would be certain red spots which appeared in the skin. The spots were painless to begin with, but the pain would gradually increase. Still it was unbeknownst to the person whether they had leprosy. What began as a red spot increased in size and then began to spread all over the body. The spongy tumor-like swellings would grow on the face and body, and eventually effect the internal organs and cause the bones to deteriorate. The pain in the skin would subside as the plague infected the nerves, and one would not know whether something was scalding hot or freezing cold. If untreated, such as in ancient times, leprosy produced a weakness in the immune system, which made the victim vulnerable to other diseases. Leprosy was nearly incurable, and made its victims outcasts of society.

I do not have the vocabulary to describe all the loathsomeness and ghastliness of the aggravated cases of leprosy; it would be too sickening, if not disgusting. As fearful as leprosy seems to be, is a very poor portrait of the repulsiveness of sin.

God used the barbaric disease of leprosy to illustrate the offensiveness of leprosy. As such, leprosy and sin had much in common:

• Both are hereditary and contagious: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
• Both work inwardly and manifest themselves outwardly.
• Both, at first, don’t cause pain.
• Both spread. Leprosy infected the person, the clothes, and then the house.
• Both have the ability to seemingly disappear, but will come back.
• Both maim, cripple, and destroy.
• Both are hideous and loathsome.
• Both isolate from society. Sin separates us from God. Additionally, If someone has sin, it’s not long before they stop coming to church, and associating with God’s people.
• Both are humanly incurable.
• Both produce death (Jas. 1:15)

Leprosy’s outward symptoms indicated that this was more than just skin deep. Human behaviors indicate that sin isn’t just skin deep. In ancient times leprosy was highly contagious. Today, however, 90% of people are immune to the disease. Unlike leprosy, everyone has been infected with sin: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The prophet Jeremiah diagnosed man’s disease, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9).

Everything that a leper touched was considered defiled. If he drank from a cup it was unclean. If he sat on a chair, it was unclean. If he opened a door, it was unclean. He was corrupted, and everything that he touched was corrupted. Leviticus 13 and 14 shows that leprosy begins on the inside, works its way outwardly, and then the clothes and the home are corrupted. Isn’t this a picture of sin and the sinner? Paul said it best:

“Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Rom. 7:17-20).

Leprosy caused the person to be isolated, away from God’s people.

The Priest

If a person had a scab, a swelling, scar, spot, scales, or sore, then that person needed to get to Aaron the High Priest, or one of his sons. The phrase “the priest shall look” is used no less than eighteen times in these two chapters. The leper wasn’t taken to the doctor, but he was taken to the priest.

Not everything that looked like leprosy actually was leprosy. It took a thorough examination from the priest to decide whether or not something was leprous. The investigation wasn’t exclusive to just the skin (13:1-46), but it also included the clothes (13:47-59), and the home (14:33-57).

“When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests” (Leviticus 13:2).

Note that it was Aaron, or one of his sons. First, Aaron foreshadowed Jesus Christ as our High Priest (Heb. 4:14; 5:9). Aaron’s sons prefigured New Testament believers as priests and sons of Christ (Rom. 8:17; Heb. 2:11; 1 Pt. 2:9).

It took the priesthood to diagnose the spots. Likewise, it takes Christ and His ministers to diagnose sin. The diagnosis of leprosy required a person to tear their clothes, put a covering over their lip, cry “unclean, unclean” whenever someone approached them, and they were to remain outside the camp until they either died or were healed.

If you go to the doctor and you don’t like a diagnosis, you want to get a second opinion. If you are misdiagnosed, or if a doctor is not honest with you, there’s a chance for malpractice. Correspondingly, there are some preachers who are afraid to diagnose sin. They would rather risk an infectious spread of sin within a congregation, than to isolate someone or some sin. Furthermore, there are too many saints who refuse a diagnosis of sin and find some false teacher who will soothe their conscience. Just as there is a difference between cancer and the common cold; there’s a difference between clean and unclean; holy and unholy; righteous and unrighteous.

The Prescription

Leviticus 13 is quite bleak. Chapter 14, on the other hand, offers a ray of hope. A person with leprosy can be cleansed and restored. We need the bad news of sin and judgment, before we can understand the good news of salvation.

There was an elaborate prescription to reinstate a person infected with leprosy. First, they had to be diagnosed by the priest. But this was different than all the other times. In the initial diagnosis the infected person came to the door of the tabernacle and had the priest come out to examine them. This there is a slight difference:

This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper (Leviticus 14:2–3).

The priest goes to the sufferer. Since the unclean person wasn’t allowed to enter the camp, the priest had to go outside the camp to minister the afflicted. Here we see Jesus Christ as our High Priest coming to where we are. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost (Lk. 19:10). Jesus compared Himself to that of a physician coming to heal the sin-sick soul: “Those who are well have no need of a physical, but those who are sick” (Mt. 10:12). In the case of a leper, the priest was unable to heal, he was only able to examine and declare cleansing. Jesus, on the other hand, is the High Priest who comes to us and HEALS!

In order for the afflicted person to be considered cleansed and allowed into the camp, there had to be sacrifice. The significance of this is that four of the five offerings that the Lord outlined in the Law had to be accomplished: The Sin Offering, Trespass Offering, the Burnt Offering, and the Grain Offering.

The Sin Offering (Lev. 4:1-5:13). The Sin Offering was offered for forgiveness of sin, or to be cleansed from physical impurity. Whatever animal was brought, the offerer had to identify with the sacrifice by laying hands on it.

The Trespass Offering (Lev. 5:14-6:7; 7:1-10). The Sin Offering and Trespass Offering were quite similar. The Sin Offering was for sinning against God, the Trespass Offering was for sinning against God and man. Therefore, the offerer had to restore any property to the offended party, add a twenty percent fine with it, then offer a ram to the Lord.

The Burnt Offering (Lev. 1;6:8-13). This was a voluntary act of worship, and was one of the most frequently made sacrifices. It expressed devotion to the Lord. For us at New Testament believers we can think of Paul’s words, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).

The Grain Offering (Lev. 2; 6:14-22). The worshiper brought a sacrifice of fine flour mingled with oil. No leaven or honey could be offered with this sacrifice. This offering speaks of Christ’s sinless humanity.

The unique things about this ceremony is that the priest treated the person cleansed from leprosy like a fellow priest! If you go back to Leviticus chapter eight you will see that it was only the priests, and lepers had this special ceremony.

The priest applied the blood of the trespass offering on the man’s right ear, right thumb, and right big toe. Next, he sprinkled oil on the man seven times and then put the oil on the blood that was already on his ear, thumb, and toe. Finally, he poured the oil on the man’s head. This is comparable to the ceremony Moses employed when he ordained Aaron and his sons It is amazing grace, that God should treat a former leper like a priest!

The leper was sprinkled with the blood of an innocent animal. He was then to wash his whole body. Finally, the priest would pour oil on the head of the cleansed man. Do you see the picture?!

Sinners are forgiven based upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who offers repentance from sins (Heb. 9:22). We are washed in the waters of baptism (Acts 2:38). Finally, the oil of the Holy Ghost is poured upon us (Acts 2:1-4).

Conclusion

Beloved, the consequences of leprosy were only temporary, but the consequences of sin are everlasting. The Israelites knew no cure for leprosy, but there is a remedy for sin—faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Have you trusted Him? Have you had you sins washed away? Have you been cleansed in the waters of baptism? Have you had the oil of the Holy Spirit poured out and into your heart?