Unclean before God
Leviticus 11-13
Unclean before God, Leviticus 11-13. Because we have been born into a world filled with sin, we have all come into this world unclean! There is nothing that we, in and of ourselves, can do about it; only through the shed blood of Christ can we be purified so that we no longer have to live outside the camp.
46 This is the law about beast
and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and
every creature that swarms on the ground, 47 to make a distinction
between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that
may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.
Leviticus 11:46-47, ESV
This
is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. 8 And if
she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two
pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And
the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”
Leviticus 12:7b-8, ESV
This
is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen,
either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to
determine whether it is clean or unclean.
Leviticus 13:59, ESV
Unclean before God
Leviticus 11-13
As I read through Leviticus 11-13, I thought about what it meant to be unclean before God. For the leprous person, it meant being put out of the camp. No one was exempt from this law, no matter how rich or poor, lowly or great. Even the King himself was not exempt!
And
Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a
several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the
LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people
of the land. (2 Chronicles 26:21, KJV)
The Old Testament gives us a picture of our relationship with God. Just as the lepers were put out of the camp, we are given a picture of the comparison between us and a holy, righteous God.
Because
we have been born into a world filled with sin, we have all come into
this world unclean before God! There is nothing that we, in and of ourselves, can
do about it; only through the shed blood of Christ can we be purified so
that we no longer have to live outside the camp.
It
is hard to imagine a world not affected by sin, but that is exactly
what the new world that God creates, after this one is destroyed, will
be like. There will be no place in the entire world that will be outside the
camp of God. Not only will there be no more sin, but there will be no more sickness or death.
It
is good for us to ponder this every now and then, and to remember that,
as Christians, this world is not our home because we are now clean before God. Through the righteous blood of Christ shed on our behalf, we have been made clean.
What an amazing God we serve!
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