Lepers

By Hayley Boud


Leviticus 13-14

Why is this in the Bible?  Why do we need to know about the process of going to a priest to see if we have leprosy when there is no leprosy in NZ?  Couldn’t God just give a handbook to the priests?  Is it really necessary to have this is the Bible?  All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for us but are these chapters really profitable for us today?  What can we learn from them?

1. The leper has to be checked by the priest. 

We have to be checked by Jesus Christ who is the Word of God.  We need to take the Word and use it as a mirror to make sure we are right in front of God.  We have to keep checking in the same way that the priest would check every 7 days.  It is really important to read the Word and ask, “do I match what the word is saying?  Am I kind? Do I love?  Am I patient?  Do I gossip?”  We should do this regularly to make sure we are still on track.

2. Lepers yell out “unclean”

If I recognise that I am unclean (sin) then I should yell this out to God.  We need to be humble and accept when we are wrong.  Admit to God and those around us, “I’m sorry, I’m unclean, I was rude to you, I wasn’t patient, I wasn’t loving” and ask for forgiveness.

3. Lepers are removed from the camp

When we have sinned we make ourselves unclean like the lepers and we separate ourselves not only from God but from His church and His work.  When we see someone with leprosy, we are repulsed and we don’t want to come close.  That is how God feels about us when we sin.  Jesus said, “Why have you forsaken me” because when God saw the sin on Jesus, He couldn’t come close.  This is the same with people.  When we sin, we make Christians and non-Christians run away from us.  They are repulsed by our actions when we are rude or angry or unloving or unkind.  Also, Christians will remove themselves from other Christians when they want to sin.  When they feel like having a drink of beer, they will go to the pub when they should be with other Christians to avoid the temptation.  When we separate ourselves from God, the church and His work, we get further and further away until it becomes impossible to come back. 

4. Lepers had to go to the priest for cleansing

We have to go to the High Priest, Jesus Christ to be cleaned.  It is only be His blood that we can be atoned.  In Lev 14:18 it says atonement (removing that separation between us and God) is achieved by blood and oil.  When we ask for forgiveness, God cleans us with his blood and we receive the Holy Spirit (oil).  It is very important to make ourselves clean as soon as we have sinned so we are not separated from God for too long.  While we are sinners we are infectious, we can stumble others with our sin by encouraging others to participate in the same sin or by bringing a bad name to Christ and putting people off.  It’s better to not be a Christian at all than one that sins shamelessly and takes people to hell with their actions.

The priest knew whether the disease was leprosy or not.  Jesus knows what is inside us even if we think we are fooling people around us…we can’t fool God. 

5. A house or garments that contain the disease must be torn down or burnt

We have to remove our sin far from us so we can’t be led from one sin to another to another.  For example, people say they will just have one glass of beer but then they have another one and then another one until they are drunk.  Or people say they can’t go anymore to the Wednesday night meeting because they have sport and then they say they can’t go on Sunday because they have work and eventually they give up serving God altogether.   

6. Leprosy is caused by a small bacteria that affects the whole community

We can think our sin is small and we can think that it only affects us but sin is sin for God.  There is no big or small sin…they are all the same to Him.  You have either sinned or not.  When someone’s father has leprosy and they have to leave the camp…who will take care of the children?  When you are sinning, who will take care of your family’s souls, your friends souls, your work colleagues souls?  If you are not there because of your sin, you affect your whole community.  It might be a small sin in your eyes such as complaining under your breath but you don’t know the big impact this has on your community.

7. Leprosy attacks the nerves = lack of ability to feel pain

When we continue to sin, we start to lose our conscience.  The first time we fall into temptation we feel really bad but after a while it becomes normal and we don’t feel anything anymore.  We lose the ability to feel guilty, to feel sorry.  That is why it is so important to make a decision to not fall in the first place and to not be surrounded by those who are sinners.  We have to be lights in the world but not to be a part of the world.  When we are always with non-Christians and don’t spend enough time with Christians, we can easily start to think like the world.  We start to think it’s normal to go to night clubs, to drink, to laugh at dirty jokes, to gossip etc.  We must never stop meeting together as it is written in Hebrews and we must never stop reading the Word of God so we can keep our conscience.

8. The cure for leprosy is simple and cheap

Leprosy is cured with a simple dose of anti-biotics which are really cheap and easy to come by.  Yet, many still have leprosy.

The cure for sin is simple and free.  We just have to ask Jesus for forgiveness and accept to be cleansed by His blood.  But many today do not accept.  Maybe they don’t know the cure.  If that is the case, then we as Christians need to bring them the anti-biotics.  If you had the cure for your neighbour who has leprosy in your bathroom, wouldn’t you share it?  Maybe they don’t believe the cure could be so simple and refuse to take it.  If that is the case, we need to pray that they will accept Jesus.  Maybe they enjoy their life the way it is.  They think the life they are living is enjoyable.  If that is the case, we should pray that God can reveal to them that in reality they are dying a spiritual death.  In front of God, we look like lepers when we sin.  May those around us come to understand this.  Maybe they can’t accept they have leprosy because they look so good on the outside.  Many lepers can have the bacteria for years without knowing they are sick.  We need to pray for ourselves and others that God can show us what is on the inside and have the courage to admit it and not justify ourselves.  Many who have leprosy might say it wasn’t their fault and blame others for giving them that disease in the same way we blame others when we sin but the cure is so simple.  It’s easier to take antibiotics than to blame others.  It’s easier to come to Jesus than to justify.  The cure is instant and we immediately feel and look better.