Laws for Cleansing
Leviticus 14-15
Laws for Cleansing, Leviticus 14-15. As Christians, the blood of Christ has covered our sins, but while still on this earth we will never be sinless. When we sin, as a Christian, we need to go to Christ; just as He saved us, so will He forgive us. Then, we need to pray for His grace to keep us from the sins that so easily entangle us.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, 2 “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of
his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, 3 and the priest shall
go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of
leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, 4 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. 5 And the priest shall
command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over
fresh water. 6 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. 7 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.
49
And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with
cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, 50 and shall kill one of the
birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water 51 and shall take the
cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird,
and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh
water and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 Thus he shall cleanse the
house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the
live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. 53 And he
shall let the live bird go out of the city into the open country. So he
shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.”
Leviticus 14:1-7 & 49-53, ESV
13
“And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then
he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his
clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean.
14 And on the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons
and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give
them to the priest. 15 And the priest shall use them, one for a sin
offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make
atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.
“Thus
you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness,
lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in
their midst.”
Leviticus 15:13-15 & 31, ESV
Laws for Cleansing
Leviticus 14-15
Leviticus 14-15 covers Laws for Cleansing Lepers, Laws for Cleansing Houses, and Laws About Bodily Discharges.
God
was very specific on the procedure that should be followed when a
person was cleansed of his leprosy. From what we know about epidemics
that have occurred throughout history, it is easy to understand why the
lepers were kept outside the camp, or outside the city.
When
diseases entered houses, the house had to be burned if the disease
could not be contained. If only a small part was diseased, just that
part had to be removed and replaced.
The
laws about bodily discharges, too, are very specific; it seems as
though the people must have been unclean most of their lives!
However,
the question I have in all of this is, why did the people have to bring
a sin offering or a guilt offering when they were cleansed? And, why
did they have to bring an offering of atonement for their house?
Sin is so entrenched in this world that it not only affects us, but
it affects everything around us. Even nature is continually dying! Once
sin entered this world, everything was affected; diseases are just one
evidence of this fact.
We no longer have to follow the laws for cleansing as given in Leviticus. Because Christ has come into this world and died for those sins, we now god to Him for cleaning.
As
Christians, the blood of Christ has covered our sins, but while still on
this earth we will never be sinless. Remember that, when a fellow
Christian offends you or is caught in the act of sin. We are not here to
judge them, but to pray for them and to encourage them to live a Godly
life.
When we sin, as a Christian, we must go to Christ; just as He saved us, so does He
forgive us. Then, we must pray for His grace to keep us from the sins that so
easily entangle us. Let us remember that the Christian life is a war; but that war
will come to an end, and Christ will be victorious.
There will be no need for laws of cleansing in heaven! It is truly beyond our comprehension when we try to imagine what it will be like to walk the streets of gold with our dear Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!
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